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PMI Retail/Wholesale Index  

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) Philippines started the Retail/Wholesale Category in April 2009. PMI Philippines now covers two categories – Manufacturing which has a panel of 400 manufacturing companies, and Retail/Wholesale which has a panel of 100 companies.

Retail/Wholesale Index of PMI Philippines, at 48, suggests that the retail/wholesale sector is still adjusting to the crisis or is affected by seasonality. Meanwhile, the retail industry is expanding a little more than the wholesale industry.

The Retail Index PMI Philippines started only in April 2009 with a simple random sample of 100 respondents selected from the list of retailers/wholesalers included in the top 8,000 Philippine companies. It is now on its second run. The Manufacturing Index of PMI Philippines, started in July 2008. Including May 2009, the index includes 11 months of data.

The methodology used for the Retail/Wholesale Index is the same methodology used for the Manufacturing Index. The survey instrument was slightly modified to make the questions more appropriate for this sector.

The PMI is based on interviews with a statistical sample of 400 purchasing and supply managers from top manufacturing companies -- 200 in the National Capital Region and 200 outside the National Capital Region.

Interviews are conducted during the last five days of the current month to cover economic activities for that month as compared to activities in the previous month. The results are reported during the first week of the following month.

The PMI is based on actual conditions as presented by the purchasing and supply managers and is considered an effective foresight of conditions in the economy as a whole.

A PMI below 50 suggests a contraction of the economy, while a PMI above 50 indicates expansion.

PMI is a joint project of the Philippine Institute for Supply Management (PISM), Foundation of the Society of Fellows in Supply Management (SOFSM) and The Asia-Pacific Centre for Research.