PH manufacturing PMI up in October
THE country’s manufacturing sector modestly grew in October, according to an IHS Markit survey.
Results of the survey released on Monday showed that the seasonally adjusted manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slightly rose to 52.1 in October from 51.8 in September.
Last month’s reading was similar to July’s figures, the highest reading for this year.
Amid improvement, IHS Markit economist David Owen said the PMI reading for October “signaled little change in the rate of improvement in operating conditions from September.”
New order growth improved slightly on the back of a solid increase in demand and improvement in export conditions.
IHS Markit said sales to overseas clients rose for the first time in five months but only at a modest pace.
“Production expanded at a slightly quicker rate, alongside a marginal uptick in the pace of new order growth. On the other hand, employment rose at a slower rate, while stock of purchases grew to the least extent for three months,” Owen said.
Prominent from the October data was a further fall in the pace of output charge inflation, which reached the weakest since January 2016.
“Despite a solid rise in cost burdens, many firms looked to keep prices unchanged in order to maintain a strong market environment,” Owen said.
“Business expectations dropped to the lowest in the series history. However, with a good proportion of firms still expecting activity to rise in the year ahead, the overall outlook remained positive,” he added.
The PMI is a composite index that represents the weighted average of new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery time, and stocks.
Readings above 50 signal an expansion while below that is a contraction.