Slack in Thailand's Manufacturing Sector Bottoms Out

        0025 GMT [Dow Jones] The amount of slack in Thailand's manufacturing sector is one of the most closely watched indicators for the country's economy right now and has been steadily falling for months. Weak global demand and nervousness about the country's political stability are the main problems. But Citigroup sees some progress. While manufacturing utilization continues to decline on year, the index bottomed out in July, rising to 60.7% in August from 59.3% the month before. The jobless rate also improved with hotel occupancy improving, too. Private consumption, though, fell 0.8% on year in August, pointing to the persistent concerns about the country after the military seized power in May. "Slack has bottomed, but we're still missing domestic spending indicators' firm uptrend that sustains the (central bank's) Monetary Policy Committee's accommodation bias," Citi says in a research note. "Other than maintaining policy rates at 2%, the Bank of Thailand threshold for weak THB should also persist." (james.hookway@wsj.com)
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        September 30, 2014 20:25 ET (00:25 GMT)