By Dipo Olowookere
The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the month of May 2017 has been released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In the figure released by the apex bank on Thursday, manufacturing activities in the period under review increased for the second consecutive month to 52.5 index points from 51.1 index points, indicating a change of 1.4 index points.
The Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMI Report on businesses is based on data compiled from purchasing and supply executives. Survey responses indicate whether there is change or no change in the level of business activities in the current month compared with the previous month.
According to the CBN report, the May 2017 manufacturing PMI indicates an expansion in the manufacturing sector for the second consecutive month. It was revealed that 10 of the 16 subsectors reported growth in the review month in the following order: primary metal; petroleum & coal products; plastics & rubber products; paper products; electrical equipment; appliances & components; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; cement; food, beverage & tobacco products and chemical & pharmaceutical products. The remaining 6 sub-sectors declined in the order: transportation equipment; non-metallic mineral products; fabricated metal products; printing & related support activities; furniture & related products and computer & electronic products.
Also, the production level index for manufacturing sector expanded for the third consecutive month in May 2017. The index at 58.7 points indicated an increase in production at a faster rate, when compared to the 58.5 points in the previous month. Fifteen manufacturing sub-sectors recorded increase in production level during the review month in the following order: primary metal; electrical equipment; petroleum & coal products; cement; chemical & pharmaceutical products; plastics & rubber products; computer & electronic products; food, beverage & tobacco products; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; appliances & components; paper products; non-metallic mineral products; furniture & related products; printing & related support activities and fabricated metal products, while the transportation equipment sub-sector recorded decline in production.
In addition, employment level index in May 2017 stood at 50.7 points, indicating growth in employment level after 26 consecutive month of contraction in employment. Of the 16 sub-sectors, 7 recorded growth in employment in the following order: primary metal; plastics & rubber products; petroleum & coal products; paper products; appliances & components; cement and fabricated metal products. The electrical equipment and textile, apparel, leather & footwear remained unchanged, while the remaining 7 sub sectors recorded contraction in employment in the following order: computer & electronic products; transportation equipment; chemical & pharmaceutical products; non-metallic mineral products; food, beverage & tobacco products; printing & related support activities and furniture & related products.
Furthermore, the composite PMI for the non-manufacturing sector grew to 52.7 in May 2017 after 16 consecutive months of contraction. Of the 18 non-manufacturing sub-sectors, 10 recorded growth in the following order: agriculture; transportation & warehousing; educational services; electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply; utilities; information & communication; water supply, sewage & waste management; accommodation & food services; health care & social assistance; and finance & insurance. The remaining 8 sub-sectors recorded contraction in the order: construction; professional, scientific, & technical services; public administration; management of companies; arts, entertainment & recreation; real estate rental & leasing; repair, maintenance/washing of motor vehicles; and wholesale/retail trade.
