The Monthly Index of Manufacturing Activity (IMAM) of the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) rose last January 2022 in relation to December 2021, going from 61.1 to 64.6, showing increases in the variables of Volume of Sales and Production Volume.
The AIRD said that the IMAM remained above the 50.0 threshold throughout the past year (2021). He explained that this index is a portrait of the manufacturing activity of a month in relation to the previous one.
It specifies that when the IMAM is below the threshold of 50 points, it reflects that the economic conditions and perspectives of the manufacturing sector are considered unfavorable. Above 50.0, the outlook is favorable.
The IMAM is presented with an adjustment for seasonality and weighted in its five variables and as a general index, which allows for a more reliable approximation by taking into account the recurring and therefore predictable fluctuations that occur in a period within a year, which tends to affect the measurement of results.
The AIRD points out that seasonality can occur in the food harvest seasons, in the Christmas period, in the summer, at the start of school classes, among others. “The IMAM, being a monthly indicator, is subject to this seasonality component,” he specifies.
In a press release, the Association of Industries said that the five variables used to make up the IMAN and with which the balance of opinion is established are: the volume of sales, the volume of production, the behavior of employment, the delivery time taken by the suppliers, and the behavior of the inventories of inputs and raw materials from one month in relation to the other.
