TAIPEI, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for manufacturing dropped by 2.3 points to 58.7 in May, according to Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), a Taipei-based think tank Thursday.
Despite the drop, the PMI for manufacturing sector has expanded for 15 months in a row. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while below reflects contraction.
Five of six sub-indexes expanded in May: new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries and inventories.
"The PMI index is just a relative value and focuses on the long-term trend," said Wu Chung-Shu, president of CIER. He added that Taiwan's good trade and economic performance in May were lifted by the expansion in global PMI indexes.
Looking ahead, Wu said that growth in the manufacturing sector was expected to slow in the second half of 2017 in the face of economic uncertainties.
Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing index, an indicator for the service sector, fell 0.9 points to 55.4 in May.
