Singapore PMI slips to 50.5 in October

It went down from the 19-month high of 52.9 in September.

While Singaporean private sector output continued to expand in October, the rate of increase slowed considerably from the previous month, with headline PMI slipping to 50.5 during the past month.

According to Nikkei Singapore PMI by IHS Markit, this was the weakest increase in output for three months. The recorded PMI was in contrast with the 19-month high record at 52.9 in September. Likewise, growth in total new orders eased since September, although the rate of expansion remained above the average for 2016 so far.

Economist Bernard Aw said both output and new orders expanded at slower rates despite new foreign sales rising at the fastest rate since January.

"Softer growth in business activities contributed to companies becoming more cautious with regard to employment and inventories. Payroll numbers fell for the first time in three months, while the ongoing drawdown of pre-production inventories accelerated to a record high," Aw noted.

He added that this came as greater average cost burdens led firms to raise their selling prices for the fourth month in a row.

"If client demand shows further signs of cooling in the coming months, Singapore's private sector will face some tough times ahead,” the economist furthered

In contrast, growth in new export sales quickened to a nine-month record. This had helped to support total new business inflows.

Meanwhile, softer expansions in activity and new work contributed to renewed job cuts across the private sector, albeit at a marginal pace. Some survey respondents commented on having fewer part-time workers.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia