People in Taiwan, which had held off COVID-19 throughout most the global pandemic, are panicking about their health and income this month as the island grapples with its first major outbreak and shutters businesses amid limited vaccine supplies. Taiwan’s coronavirus total since the start of the global pandemic stood at 12,500 on Friday, with 385…
Manufacturing PMI loses some steam
DEEPENED CONCERN: CIER president Chang Chuang-chang said that manufacturers fear component crunches, supply chain delays, and electricity and water shortages
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month lost momentum, while the non-manufacturing index tumbled into the contraction zone as the service sector was hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions that kept people at home, the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The index fell 2.7 points to 66, comfortably above the expansion mark, as all sectors reported improved business activity, although at a slower pace, the Taipei-based institute said.