MANILA: The producer price index (PPI) for manufacturing declined at a slightly faster pace in May this year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. In a report released on Tuesday, the PSA said the PPI during the month declined by 0.8 percent from -0.6 percent in April 2024. In May 2023, the PPI went up by 2.2 percent. "The faster annual decline of PPI in May 2024, compared with its annual decrease in April 2024, was primarily due to the deceleration in the annual growth rate of manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products industry division at 1.9 percent in May 2024 from 4.0 percent in April 2024," the PSA said. Other main contributors to the faster annual decline of PPI were the deceleration in the annual increase of manufacture of beverages at 3.4 percent from 4.1 percent annual increment in April, and the faster decline in the annual rate of manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products at 2.6 percent from -1.8 percent the previous month. Month-on-month, the PPI for manufac turing registered a slower increase of 0.2 percent in May from a 0.5 percent increment in April 2024. The top contributor to the slower increase in the monthly rate of PPI was the deceleration in the monthly rate of manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products which rose 0.4 percent from a 2.2 percent increase in the previous month. The PPI is generated from the results of the Producer Price Survey, which is done nationwide. It measures the average change over time in the prices of products or commodities produced by domestic manufacturers and sold at factory gate prices to wholesalers and/or other consumers in the domestic market. Source: Philippines News Agency