The numbers coming out month after month show that we seem to be tracking a slow but steady recovery. As I’ve said before, I’m cautiously optimistic about the manufacturing sector – especially in the USA.

On Thursday (3^rd January, 2013), ADP¹ said construction added 39,000 positions in December, second only to trade and transportation utilities, which grew 53,000. Medium- and larger-sized businesses led the way with 102,000 and 87,000 new jobs respectively

Overall, Employers added 1.84 million jobs in 2011², the most in five years. In the first 11 months of 2012, employers added 1.67 million. Job gains would have to top 170,000 in December to push 2012 ahead of the previous year. Some economists do expect gains at that level or higher.

Even in Asia things are looking up. In the New Year we learned about China’s services growth³, as China’s official purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector rose to 56.1 in December from 55.6 in November, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Other PMIs on the manufacturing sector suggest China’s growth is starting to pick up based on late 2012 data. Not the heady double-digit growth of earlier years, but increases none-the-less. Construction was also up, though all of this growth is partly owing to government investment. The Friday (4^th January 2013) HSBC PMI report shows slower growth as it mainly focuses on the private sector. The HSBC report⁴ showed a softening from 52.1 to 51.7. As you know above 50 is still good. India’s looking good too re PMI for last month! Read More »

Tags: aircraft, China, Germany, happy new year, india, Industry, New Year, Peter Granger, PMI, UK

CIOs around the world are at the center of technology trends such as cloud, social media, consumerization of IT, and mobility. This is the second blog in a four-part series (Read Part I) exploring and sharing how CIOs around the world are responding to these trends and creating new ways to innovate, grow, and deliver superior customer experience.

Many of us are used to having a pretty formal relationship with our bank – after all, it’s about our money, isn’t it? It’s hard to get more serious than that.

However, times are changing. The Intuit 2020 Report: The Future of Financial Services identifies four areas of rapid transformation in today’s financial services industry: Read More »

Tags: allianz, any device, Borderless Networks, Bring your Own Device (BYOD), byod, Carrie Krinock, CIO, Cisco, cloud, customer experience, Europe, Executive ViewPoints, Financial Services, Germany, innovation, operational excellence, social media

“[In France], it is considered unspeakably rude to fail to wish Bonne Année, usually followed by Meilleurs Voeux, to anybody you haven’t seen since December 31st…right up until the end of January.” Read More »

Tags: Bonne Annee, business, cards, customs, France, French, German, Germany, greetings, Guten Rutsch, Inclusion and Diversity, Meilleurs Voeux, New Year, rituals