Singapore's factory activity is still going strong, with January marking the 17th straight month of expansion and a new high.

With manufacturing making up a fifth of the economy, this continued momentum should support overall growth. And though electronics manufacturing growth is slowing, the non-electronics sectors are picking up the slack - a promising sign.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - an early indicator of manufacturing activity - was 53.1 last month, up from 52.8 the month before and the highest since December 2009.

A reading of 50 and above indicates expansion.

The Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM), which compiles the PMI, noted that this "good start of the year" was "boosted by the non-electronics sectors".

After being a key driver of manufacturing growth for more than a year, the electronics sector has seen two straight months of slower expansion.

The electronics PMI was 52.9 last month, down from 53.2 in December and dipping below the overall manufacturing PMI for the first time since June 2016. But this is not necessarily cause for alarm. The electronics sector is still in its 18th straight month of expansion, and SIPMM said anecdotal evidence suggests that electronics manufacturers remain optimistic about continued growth.

What the figures suggest is that manufacturing momentum has "diversified beyond electronics", as OCBC economist Selena Ling put it.

She noted that in the recent Business Expectations Survey, the electronics cluster was the least upbeat, whereas precision engineering was the most optimistic.

Ms Ling expects manufacturing growth to ease from 2017's double-digit rates to a more modest 5 per cent year-on-year for this year.

Nonetheless, perhaps the divergence in the two PMI readings can be taken as a sign of broader-based support for the pick-up in manufacturing, boding well for its sustained run.