(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in Malaysia continued to contract in August, and at a steady pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.7.
That's unchanged from the previous month and remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The latest PMI data suggest GDP growth is running at a broadly similar rate to that seen in the second quarter, as well as pointing to modest year-on-year improvements in official manufacturing production data.
Manufacturers often noted that demand in the sector remained muted during August, with reports of weak customer confidence. Total new business moderated slightly for the second month running. At the same time, demand conditions in international markets improved for the fifth month in a row but at the softest rate in the current sequence.
