US manufacturing growth improves in June; hiring jumps

Manufacturing growth has accelerated for the past two months, evidence that U.S. factories are beginning to adapt and overcome the drags caused by a rise in the dollar's value and cheaper oil prices, two trends that date back to last fall.

[...] manufacturers are responding to the increased demand by hiring more workers, as the employment measure increased to 55.5 from 51.7, a sign that many companies expect additional orders in the coming months and are hiring in advance.

Falling oil prices forced energy companies to curtail orders for new equipment and pipelines as their margins were squeezed and rigs were shut down.

The increase in the index "indicates that the drag on factories coming from the strong U.S. dollar and weak oil industry is no longer having as much negative impact as before," said Michael Gregory, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.