The expansion of Taiwan's manufacturing activities slowed down slightly, as shown by CIER's (Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research) PMI reading (Purchasing Managers Index) for June, which slipped 0.4 points from the previous month to 58.2, reported the United Daily News on July 2. All of the five PMI sub-indexes scored over 50 (indicating expansion): new orders, production, employment, inventories, and supplier deliveries. Although the sub-index for new orders fell from 62.3 in May to 59.6 in June, it remained at a relatively high level. Meanwhile, the sub-index for production has seen expansion for four consecutive months, reaching 61.7 in June. In particular, the sector of electronics and optoelectronics registered growth in both new orders and production, indicating a significant improvement on utilization rate.