Despite COVID-19 taking a hit on manufacturing sectors in many industrialized economies, factories in the Philippines posted a 13-month-high growth in February, a London-based global information provider said.
The latest IHS Markit Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index showed that the seasonally adjusted PMI further rose to 52.3 from 52.1 last January.
A PMI score above 50 meant there was an overall increase in manufacturing activity.
Exports growth last month was the strongest since July 2018. While the coronavirus still “poses a downside risk” to domestic manufacturing, the outbreak “seems to have been isolated to the supply-side so far as exports grew at the fastest rate in over one-and-a-half years.”
IHS Markit said local manufacturers also added more workers last month given their current workloads and anticipated demand, reversing the job cuts in January.