Factory output declined in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported this morning.

Preliminary results of the PSA’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) showed that in October, factory output – as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) – contracted by 6.5%, the worst turnout since December 2011 when factory output declined by 7.7%.

This was lower than the revised 4.1% contraction recorded in September and a reversal of the 9.9% growth posted a year ago.

Sectors that posted double-digit declines were: chemical products (-61.0%), tobacco products (-39.4%), textiles (-28.3%), footwear and wearing apparel (-27.5%) and paper and paper products (-18.9%).

Average capacity utilization, which is the extent by which industry resources are being used in the production of goods, was estimated at 83.8%. Eleven of the 20 sectors registered capacity utilization rates of 80% and above. — Christine Joyce S. Castañeda

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