Jul 02, 2018
South Korea’s manufacturing sector shrank again in June but at the slowest pace since it fell into contraction in March, according to a survey of the sector.
The Nikkei-Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for South Korea rose to 49.8 last month, coming in just a hair below the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction.
A sub-index for output came in at 50, indicating no change from the previous month, while that for new orders shrank at the slowest rate since the current four-month stretch of contraction began.
Export orders rose at the fastest pace since October 2013 with stronger demand from China and Japan noted by the companies surveyed.
Joe Hayes, an economist at IHS Markit, said that in light of the rise in export orders, “an overall decline in new orders suggests the fragility in demand is sourced from the domestic economy.”
Source: The Financial Times