singaporesingapores manufacturing activity grew at a quicker pace in december mainly due to a faster expansion of new orders new exports factory output inventory and employment the citystates purchasing managers index rose to 507 in december from 506 in november the singapore institute of purchasing and materials management said tuesday the december reading marks the 18th straight month of expansion a pmi reading above 50 indicates an expansion in manufacturing the latest pmi readings bode well for the manufacturing sector despite the heightened concern about the omicron covid19 variant and the effect of disruptive supply chains said sophia poh vice president of industry engagement and development at sipmm going forward local manufacturers are quietly optimistic that manufacturing growth will continue into the new year and that the global pandemic is expected to become endemic the pmi for electronics which accounts for about onethird of singapores manufacturing rose to 510 in december from 508 in november