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It may be winter, but there's something of a springtime feel to the latest U.S. economic data.



Two reports from the United States yesterday added to a recent string of encouraging numbers, boosting optimism over the 2011 outlook for the world's biggest economy. To date in this recovery, emerging economies such as China have been the engine of growth, while Europe stumbled through a debt crisis and the U.S. failed to gain traction amid soaring unemployment and poor data.



Yesterday, the Institute for Supply Management reported that its widely-watched manufacturing index rose to 57 in December from 56.6 a month earlier, boosting hopes that the recovery is picking up speed.



That marked the 17th month of growth for manufacturing. The new orders component of the report marked the best showing in seven months, and, said Jonathan Basile, director of economics at Credit Suisse Securities in New York, "demand details suggest the manufacturing/business investment picture has a head of steam heading into 2011.



Separately, U.S. data showed construction spending picking up in November to its best level in five months.



"Our calculations suggest that fourth-quarter GDP growth as as strong as 4 per cent annualized and, with the new fiscal stimulus now being introduced, growth in the first quarter of the new year is likely to come in at around that same pace," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.



On the construction side, spending rose 0.4 per cent. And, while the numbers are subject to revision, they show home construction rising for the first time in seven months, not taking into account spending on home improvements. That, noted Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, comes after a dip when a key tax credit ended.



"Activity tanked as the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit loomed but the monthly declines have been shrinking and it now looks as though homebuilding activity has finally hit bottom," Mr. Shepherson said.



Despite the more optimistic news, millions of Americans remain unemployed, and the employment component of the ISM index did nothing to boost the outlook, actually falling slightly. That comes ahead of the U.S. employment report to be released Friday.



"This isn't particularly encouraging for anyone looking for a strong showing from December's non-farm payrolls figures, due this Friday," said Mr. Ashworth.



Globe and Mail New York correspondent Joanna Slater writes today that the U.S. economy is expected to pick up further speed, but even so, that won't mean anything resembling full employment any time in the next few years.

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