THE manufacturing sector has been buoyed by encouraging data for factory activity in December, which grew at its fastest pace since September 2011.

The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a 15-month high of 51.4 in December from an upwardly revised 49.2 in November - a far stronger increase than any predicted.

The economy is forecast to shrink 0.1% in the last three months of 2012, but stronger-than-expected official services output data for October, released just before Christmas, rais......for the full story register now for free or login below...