(Bloomberg) -- Amid global turmoil, Colombia's manufacturing industry production index improved for the second month in a row in May. The manufacturing gauge dipped during the first three months of the year.
“The optimism in the month was associated with improvements in goods orders and production, since there was a modest drop in inventories of raw materials and employment growth stalled,” said Andrés Langebaek Rueda, Chief Economist, Bolivar Group at Davivienda.
The pace of new orders growth was the fastest since November. Survey participants linked the upturn to greater market share and new product releases.
On the price front, inflationary pressures intensified as the exchange rate reached its highest level since Feb. 2016. Respondents cited U.S. dollar strength as the main pressure on prices, which in turn were passed on to clients via higher selling charges. The rate of inflation for firm inputs was the highest since September.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alexandre Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alexandre Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net, Chris Middleton
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