SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore's manufacturing rebounded in December as output in the city-state's electronics sector surged by over half, the government said Tuesday.
Industrial production rose 14.4 percent from a year earlier following a 9.5 percent decrease in November, the Trade and Industry Ministry said in a statement. Manufacturing in December increased a seasonally adjusted 18.1 percent from November, ending a four-month decline.
Electronics, which account for about a quarter of Singapore's industrial production, soared 57 percent due to higher demand and a low base level last year, while chemicals production grew 28 percent, the ministry said.
Pharmaceuticals, which is subject to big month-to-month swings in production and make up about a fifth of manufacturing, fell 16 percent from a year earlier -- its decline slowing from a 53 percent plunge in November.
