NEWARK, NY -- IEC Electronics reported December quarter net profits of $1.1 million, up 39% year-over-year.

ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics reported fourth-quarter net income of $19 million, up 11.8% year-over-year.

ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge reported net earnings grew 56% to $4.4 million for its fiscal 2011 second-quarter ended Jan. 2.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in January for the 18th consecutive month, says the Institute for Supply Management. The PMI was 60.8%, up 2.3 percentage points sequentially. A reading above 50% indicates the manufacturing economy is generally expanding.

New orders hit 67.8%, up 5.8 points, while production registered 63.5%, up a slight 0.5 points. Inventories in January were 52.4%, up 0.6 points, and customer inventories grew 5.5 points to 45.5%. Backlogs went up 11 percentage points to reach 58%.

“The manufacturing sector grew at a faster rate in January, as the PMI registered 60.8%, which is its highest level since May 2004 when the index registered 61.4%. The continuing strong performance is highlighted as January is also the sixth consecutive month of month-over-month growth in the sector. New orders and production continue to be strong, and employment rose above 60% for the first time since May 2004. Global demand is driving commodity prices higher, particularly for energy, metals and chemicals,” said ISM spokesperson Norbert J. Ore. 

The overall economy grew for the 20th consecutive month, according to the firm.