slows for 3rd month in April

survey period. While operating expenses grew at a solid rate, the pace of inflation was the weakest in two-and-half-years. Reflecting softer hikes in cost burdens, manufacturers raised their selling prices at the slowest pace in 28 months,” Baluch said.

S&P Global also noted a softer uptick in new business, leading firms to expand their output but at the weakest pace in the past six months.

“Looking ahead, manufacturers across the Philippines remained largely optimistic, as the degree of confidence in the year-ahead outlook for output reached a threemonth high. That said, the degree of confidence was weaker than the series average. Furthermore, our latest forecast expects growth in industrial production to moderate to 5 percent in 2023,” Baluch said. com.ph/2023/04/12/local-factories-shed-over-300k-jobsin-february/)

S&P Global also reported “widespread reports of resignations” that led to a third consecutive month of contraction in payroll numbers across Filipino firms.

The think tank said that while “the rate of job shedding” was low, firms still linked this to challenges in retaining their staff.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported that the manufacturing sector shed over 300,000 jobs in February due to significant declines in employment in several subsectors, including tea production. (Full story here: https://businessmirror.

Apart from staff shortages, firms also experienced material shortages and expensive materials from some suppliers also affected the sector’s performance.

S&P Global also said the manufacturing industry experienced delivery delays as well as the strengthening of the US dollar, which pushed up manufacturers’ costs during the period.

Last month, PSA data also showed the country’s factory output growth slowed in February due to the lackluster performance of food manufacturing.

See “PMI,” A2