Philippine Industrial Output Growth Eases To 0.9%

(RTTNews) - Philippine industrial production expanded at a slower pace at the start of the year, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistical Authority showed on Thursday.

The value of production in the manufacturing industries rose 0.9 percent year-over-year in January, following a revised 2.2 percent gain in December. The expected increase was 1.4 percent.

The annual change in the manufacture of basic metals industry division was a decline of 6.6 percent versus a double-digit growth of 16.8 percent in December, which mostly affected the overall industrial production.

The annual growth of the manufacture of electrical equipment softened markedly to 11.3 percent in January from 41.0 percent in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the manufacture of transport equipment contracted 2.9 percent, reversing a 12.7 percent surge a month ago.

On a monthly basis, industrial production fell a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent from December, when it dropped by 0.1 percent.

The volume of industrial production advanced at a faster pace of 1.9 percent annually versus the 1.6 percent growth seen a month ago.