US manufacturers feel better than their competitors in China. That is at least the message of the latest surveys of supply managers, which show stronger sentiment in the US than in China.

There is room for argument about details, but markets put much weight on the direction that these surveys show. All are set so that numbers above 50 show expansion, and below it show contraction. In the US, the headline rose to 58.4 last month from 54.9; in China, it fell very slightly to 55.8.

There are caveats. The US number has been driven by restocking of inventories after the initial crisis, a process that seems to be ending. New export orders fell, having risen on the weak dollar. The Chinese data also still show steady rises in new orders, both domestically and for exports.