PH manufacturing hit eight-year high in February 2026

The Philippine manufacturing sector continued to expand in February to hit its best showing in over eight years as new orders drove production levels higher, results of a survey released by S&P Global on Monday showed.

The headline S&P Global Philippines Manufacturing PMI stood at 54.6 in February, above the 50.0-threshold that separates expansion and contraction. This compares with the 52.9 in January, and the most marked since November 2017.

“The Philippines manufacturing sector has had a solid start to 2026, with February marking its strongest performance since late 2017,” S&P Global Market Intelligence economist Maryam Baluch said in a commentary.

“A sharp influx of new orders underpinned robust growth of output, and in both cases, the expansions were historically pronounced and reached multi-year highs,” she added.

Output increased for the second straight month with growth at the fastest since November 2018, as manufacturers recorded growth in new orders amid the improvements in domestic and international demand.

The increased production drove input buying higher, with inventories of purchases and finished goods accumulated stronger than the previous month.

“However, jobs growth remained steady and was relatively modest overall. With backlogs rising, manufacturers have further scope to increase their staffing numbers in the coming months,” Baluch said.

Employment in the sector grew for the second straight month, but the pace of job creation was “modest” overall and insufficient to prevent a fresh build-up in work backlogs.

Moving forward, sentiment for the next 12 months improved in February, with confidence lifting the low seen in January as respondents expected a growth in production volumes linked to hopes of improvements in demand trends.

“The sector’s positive performance was accompanied by a surge in business confidence. Firms were hopeful that demand conditions would continue to improve and drive further expansions in production volumes,” Baluch said. —AOL, GMA Integrated News