Manufacturing from the U.K. to India showed improvement in December, suggesting production is weathering the strains from Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

Purchasing manager indexes for the U.K., Switzerland, China, India and Australia rose in December, while German unemployment fell more than economists forecast as exports of cars and machinery boomed, reports today showed. U.S. manufacturing growth may have accelerated to the fastest pace in six months, a report later today may show.

The factory production data indicate some resilience in the industry as European leaders work to flesh out their plan to end the debt turmoil that's threatening to drag the region back into recession. The International Monetary Fund may cut its 2012 global growth forecast this month after lowering it to 4 percent in September, when it predicted "severe" repercussions if Europe fails to contain its crisis.