HANOI, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnam Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which measures economic health of the country's manufacturing sector, declined to a 10-month low of 51.5 in September from 53.7 in August, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Monday.
The result remains above the critical 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction, but signals a slowdown in the pace of expansion in the manufacturing sector.
Central to the drop in the PMI in September were slower rises in both output and new orders. Manufacturing production rose at the weakest pace since March, while new export orders rose modestly to the slowest extent in 16 months.
However, business confidence rebounded from the record low seen in August. Company plans and expected growth of new orders supported optimism that output will increase over the coming year.
