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1st LD-Writethru: Taiwan's manufacturing sector eases in October

Xinhua, November 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Taiwan's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector dipped two points from September to 54.5 in October as the growth of new orders lost momentum, data showed on Tuesday.

It is the eighth consecutive month that the manufacturing sector has seen expansion, according to the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER). A PMI above 50 indicates expansion while figures under 50 reflect contraction.

The sub-index for new orders fell 4.3 points to 55, and that for production lost 4.2 points to 55.7.

The sub-index for employment was down 0.6 point to 56.3. The sub-index for inventories fell from a 26-month high of 54 to 52.7.

Of six manufacturing categories, five saw expansion while power and machinery manufacturing posted numbers indicating contraction.

In October, the non-manufacturing index, or the indicator for the service sector, fell into contraction after four months of expansion.

The index decreased 1.6 points from a month earlier to 49.4 in October. The sub-index for business activity posted its second consecutive contraction while the sub-index for new orders also ended four months of expansion to contract.

Major think tanks in Taiwan predicted the economy would fare better in the second half of the year due to a lower comparison basis and recovering demand for high-tech products.

Experts see higher possibility for annual growth to reach more than 1 percent. However, they warned that that growth rate is not strong enough for the economy to withstand headwinds in the global economy. Endi