Of all the economic indicators out there, none seem to provide a better snapshot of how the economy is doing than the purchasing mangers surveys.

In the UK, the survey comes via CIPS/Markit; in the US it is the Institute of Supply Management; across Europe, Markit has its hand in all of them.

Yesterday was the day they were released, so what are they saying?

First off, you need to bear in mind the key measure for these surveys is 50. Anything above is supposed to indicate growth.

In the UK, the news was a tad disappointing. The index fell back. Okay, at 51.8 it still indicates growth, but the index hit the heady heights of 53.4 in the month before, moving some to get all excited.

The CIPS/Markit PMI index fell to the mid 30s last autumn, but has been steadily rising since. It passed 50 in July, stayed there in August, fell back into contraction territory in September, wowed people last month, and disappointed this.

Capital Economics reckons the survey shows the UK has probably pulled out of recession, but that “the recovery is clearly struggling to get going.”

As for the US, the news is better. The PMI index across the pond has been over 50 now for several months. Unfortunately it did fall back in November, but from an almost ridiculously high 55.7, to a perfectly respectable 53.6.  The current level is consistent with GDP growth of around 3.5 per cent a year. What is interesting is that inventory levels are still falling, while the order backlog is looking pretty good.

As for Europe, the European-wide PMI index hit 51.2, the highest level since March last year. The biggest worry seems to relate to Spain, where they indeed put in a paltry 45.3