Half measures and a full snafu

WHILE virtually all of the news of the past couple weeks has been nothing if not grim, there were two very minor but nonetheless positive economic developments this week that might be considered a glimmer of hope, if only because we have become desperate for any hint of relief from our seemingly unending collective misery.

The first bit of news was the announcement by IHS Markit that the Philippines’ Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for February was 52.5, unchanged from January, and a marked improvement over December 2020’s multi-year low of 49.2. Without going into the complex details of how the number is generated – it is based on a number of indicators, the main one being factory orders – a PMI above 50.0 indicates expansion of manufacturing activity, while a PMI of less than 50.0 indicates a slowdown.