Singapore's manufacturing sector contracted for a fifth straight month in November as orders continued to shrink,a survey showed on Monday,adding to evidence of a deepening global economic slowdown even as Europe's debt crisis reaches a critical stage. The Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) slipped to 48.7 points from October's 49.5,staying below the key 50-point level that indicates an increase in manufacturing activity,the Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management said on Monday. A separate PMI for the electronics sector fell to 50.9 from October's 52.1,but remained above the 50-point level for a second consecutive month. Asian economies have slowed in recent months,hurt by the debt problems in the euro zone that has resulted in weaker demand for the region's exports. Hong Kong earlier on Monday said its PMI fell to 48.7 in November from 49.0 in October as output,new orders and employment all declined. CONTEXT: The PMI is produced ahead of government data on manufacturing and exports. The dip in the overall PMI was due to declines in new orders,new export orders,production,inventory,imports and employment. There were,however,increases in the stock of finished goods and input prices. Singapore's economy could contract in the current quarter and growth next year is likely to slow due to the weakness in the western economies,the government warned last month. The Southeast Asian city-state's industrial production rose a much stronger-than-expected 14.2 per cent in October from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis,helped by a surge in biomedical manufacturing. The Economic Development Board's index of electronics production contracted 20.3 per cent from a year ago,although the index for the sector rose to 94.6 in October from 93.4 in September.
