Growth in S'pore factory output slows in May

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S factory output continued to moderate by growing at a lower-than-expected 5 per cent in May 2017 versus a year ago, as the electronics cluster sustained its double-digit growth while the biomedical manufacturing extended its steep decline.

Stripping out biomedical manufacturing, output grew 13.1 per cent.

The May reading was down from April's 6.7 per cent and March's 11.3 per cent year on year, and came below the market consensus of 7.5 per cent.

DBS senior economist Irvin Seah said there are signs that the manufacturing rally has peaked, whether biomedical is included or not and that "output…