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Economy showing signs of slowdown

The nation's economy showed signs of slowing down, as the index of leading indicators last month edged down from January, mainly because of the flattening growth rate of export orders, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday.

The index of leading indicators -- a gauge for the nation's economic activity in the next three months -- dropped 0.1 points to 108.5 points last month, after climbing 0.9 points in January, the council said.

A slowing growth rate in export orders and customs-cleared exports, as well as the declining number of construction licenses issued, were factors that brought down the index, the council said.

Positive contributions to the index were money supply, average work hours in the manufacturing sector and wholesale prices.

Coincident index

The coincident index, which coincides with the pace of economic activity, stood at 109 last month, the same level as January, the council said, basing its assessment on revised data.

The total score of monitoring indicators was up one point to 19, flashing a "yellow-blue" light, signaling a slowdown for the second consecutive month after flashing a "blue" light, signifying recession, last December, the council said.

Survey

The council also released yesterday a survey on manufacturers, whose business expectations improved from January to last month.

In the poll, 29 percent of respondents expected the economy to improve over the next three months, up from 17 percent a month earlier, while 8 percent held a negative view, down from 12 percent.

Sixty-three percent of the producers surveyed, meanwhile, expected the nation's economic performance to remain unchanged, down from 71 percent in January.
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