Vietnam’s manufacturing industry continues improving in January

Employees at Apparel Far Eastern Co.Ltd in Vietnam-Singpore Industrial Park, Thuan An city, Binh Duong province. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam's manufacturing industry recorded a steady increase in output and orders in January while the number of jobs also rose for the second consecutive month, according to a newly released report of London-based information provider IHS Markit.

The Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 53.7 in January 2022 from 52.5 in December 2021. It signals a solid improvement in business conditions that was the most marked since April last year. Both output and new orders increased at a high rate in the opening month of the year as customer demand continued to enhance.

Experts attributed the improvement in total new orders to foreign enterprises’ activities, with the fastest growth rate since November 2018.

Companies are also confident in the production outlook for 2022. About 60 percent of respondents expected an increase in output, reflecting the highest level of optimism in the past three years.

A rise in employment was recorded in January, as companies continued to rebuild their workforce following the Delta wave of the pandemic in 2021.

According to IHS Markit, the increase in employment enabled manufacturers to keep on top of workload despite a sharper growth of new orders./.