Manufacturing production returns to growth in August

Latest reading: Manufacturing production was up 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis in August, following a 0.8% decline in the prior month. Relative to the prior month's figures, the reading for petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products improved in August (+7.3% in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms vs -6.4% in July). In contrast, readings softened for food and beverages (-0.9% vs +0.2% in July), basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery (-4.7% vs +2.2% in July) and wood and wood products, paper, publishing and printing (-2.5% vs -1.7% in July). In annual terms, manufacturing output fell 1.5% in August, following a 1.3% drop in the previous month.

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