SINGAPORE — Factory output rose for the third consecutive month in May, albeit at a slower pace than April, boosted by a continued surge in pharmaceuticals and semi-conductors.

Industrial production grew 0.9 per cent year-on-year last month, showed data from the Economic Development Board (EDB), compared with April’s revised 3 per cent increase. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 2.3 per cent.

Last month, biomedical manufacturing output expanded 13.2 per cent, slowing slightly from April’s 15 per cent growth. The pharmaceuticals segment jumped 14.2 per cent, while the medical technology segment also saw an ­increase of 9.2 per cent due to the higher export demand for medical ­devices.

The electronics cluster took a hit, however, with growth slowing to 5.9 per cent last month, from 11.1 per cent in April. The semi-conductor segment continued to perform well with a 16.6 per cent growth, however, this was much slower than April’s 24.5 per cent expansion.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, manufacturing output shrunk 0.4 per cent.