Taipei, June 5 (CNA) The local service sector flashed a "yellow-red" light in April for the second consecutive month as global demand remained solid, pushing up Taiwan's exports in the month and boosting performance in the sector, the Commerce Development Research Institute (CDRI) said on Monday.
Citing a survey, the CDRI, one of the leading economic think tanks in Taiwan, said that the Index of Service Industry (ISI) for April stood at 104, unchanged from a month earlier, continuing to flash a yellow-red light indicating slight overheating.
The CDRI uses a five-color coded system, in conjunction with the ISI, to describe the outlook for Taiwan's service sector, focusing on three major segments -- securities trading, business operations, labor market and wages.
Red indicates overheating, yellow-red slight overheating, green represents steady growth, yellow-blue sluggishness and blue indicates recession.
The local service sector remained solid in April, when Taiwan's exports grew 9.39 percent from a year earlier to US$24.32 billion, the CDRI said.
However, the think tank warned that growth in private consumption showed signs of slowing down in April as sales generated by the retail and wholesale businesses rose at a pace of 0.4 percent from a year earlier in the month, the CDRI said, adding that as a result, the ISI remained at the lower end of the yellow-red light score range of 104-108.
In April, the sub-index for securities trading remained unchanged at 100 points, as the fall in trading volume impacted the increase in share prices, the think tank said.
As for the labor market, the sub-index also remained flat at 104 points in April at a time when the number of employers and average wages increased but the number of overtime working hours dropped, the think tank added.
The CDRI said that the sub-index for business operations fell to 99 in April from 100, with sales growth in the retail and wholesale sectors moderating slightly. At the same time, the number of flights handled by airports in Taiwan was flat for the month.
The think tank said that sales promotion campaigns staged by retailers for Mother's Day boosted sales in May, but a stronger currency could affect the outbound sales of retailers and wholesalers in the month.
The CDRI is expected to report an ISI for May of 104, unchanged from April and still flashing a yellow-red light, the CDRI said.
