FACTORY output declined for the third straight month in November, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported earlier this morning.

Preliminary results from the PSA’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) showed that the November factory output – as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) – contracted by 8.1%. The recent figure was lower than the 5.8% contraction recorded in October and a reversal of the 15.1% growth registered in November 2016.

Sectors that posted double-digit declines were: chemical products (-62.7%), tobacco products (-48.3%), textiles (-33.8%), and footwear and wearing apparel (-23.9%).

Average capacity utilization, which is the extent by which industry resources are being used in the production of goods, was estimated at 83.9% with eleven of the 20 sectors registered capacity utilization rates of 80% and above. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

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