Factory output dropped at a slower rate in August amid the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Tuesday.
Data showed the volume of production of index contracted 9.9 percent in August, compared with the 14.6-percent decline in July. The decline In August last year was 12.5 percent.
“The slower downtrend in the VoPI was influenced by the increases in the indices of two heavily-weighted industry groups, namely chemical products (17.1 percent) and basic metals (3.9 percent),” the PSA said.
The value of production index dropped 13.8 percent in August, also slower than the reported annual decrease of 17.2 percent in July. “The August 2020 figure was the sixth consecutive month that VaPI had a negative growth and the fourth straight month that it was declining at a slower rate. In August 2019, VaPI dropped at a slower rate of -11.2 percent,” the PSA said.
The average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in August slightly decreased to 65.3 percent from 66.9 percent in July.