Update: Growth in Singapore's manufacturing sector moderates to 8% year-on-year in Q1

MODERATION is seen in Singapore's manufacturing sector in the first quarter, based on the latest data released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Thursday.

The sector grew by 8 per cent in Q1 2017 compared to a year ago, down from the 11.5 per cent growth in the previous quarter.

The sector's growth is driven mainly by the electronics and precision engineering clusters, which expanded on the back of robust global demand for semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the manufacturing sector contracted by 1.5 per cent, a pullback from the 39.8 per cent expansion in the preceding quarter.

Weakness in the private sector construction works continued to weigh on construction sector, which contracted by 1.4 per cent year-on-year, extending the 2.8 per cent decline in the previous quarter,

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the sector grew at a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 4.3 per cent, faster than the 0.8 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.

The services producing industries' growth edged up to 1.6 per cent in Q1 2017, from previous quarter's 1 per cent growth on a year-on-year basis.

However, growth on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the sector's growth declined by a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 2.1 per cent in the first quarter, a reversal of the 8.4 per cent expansion seen in the previous quarter.