Manufacturing sector tweaks in November

Production rose for the first time since June as foreign demand improved notably from that seen in October

While the country’s manufacturing sector revealed an improvement for the month of November, IHS Markit’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the Philippines still sits below the 50 neutral threshold.

“The IHS Markit Philippines Manufacturing PMI rose from 48.5 in October to 49.9 in November, posting just below the 50 neutral value that separates expansion from contraction,” it said.

IHS Markit economist Shreeya Patel of fered an optimistic view that this improvement in the country’s manufacturing sector mirrors a recovery in the industry’s momentum, which should head towards stabilization in the near-term.

“Production rose for the first time since June as foreign demand improved notably from that seen in October,” Patel said.

Encouraging outlook

“Encouragingly, firms registered the slowest drop in employment in the current nine-month sequence of decline despite a steep depletion in backlogs of work,” she added.

Still, the economist noted that the eyed recovery might not be as smooth as it could be as the status of COVID-19 cases will still dictate the health of the sector.

Further, the uncertainty on when the vaccine will be available makes it unclear as to when can the government lift its imposed restrictions.

The think tank then stressed that the outlook for manufacturing production in the next 12 months remained positive in November lifting sentiment in the industry from the previous month.