PH factory activity slows down in May

Following the pickup in manufacturing in April, Philippine factory growth in May slowed to an almost stagnant pace as production declined due to waning demand for new orders from foreign markets and the sharpest drop in employment in the sector in nearly a year.

- BY DERCO ROSAL

Data from S&P Global revealed that the month of May posted “a broadly stagnating picture in the Filipino manufacturing sector,” which showed a “setback to growth momentum built in April.” Growth in April was a sharp rebound from the nearly four-year low seen in March.

“After April marked a solid revival in the health of the Filipino manufacturing sector, the latest data signaled a notable reversal,” S&P Global said in its latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) report, released Monday, June 2.