Malaysia Manufacturing Sales Down 1.4%

Malaysia's sales value of the manufacturing sector in February 2016 declined by 1.4% to RM51.4 billion from RM52.1 billion reported a year ago. 
In a statement, the Department of Statistics said the sales value decreased by 7.0% when compared on a monthly basis. 
It said the decline was mainly due to a decrease in the manufacture of liquefied or compressed inorganic industrial or medical gases, followed by the manufacture of refined petroleum products, according to Malaysia's (Bernama) News Agency. 
"Total employees engaged in the manufacturing sector during the month under review was 1,028,301 persons, down 0.2% from the 1,030,484 persons in February last year. 
"On a year-on-year basis, salaries and wages paid in February this year increased by 7.9% to register RM3.21 million compared with the same month last year, but fell by 1.3% on a month-on-month basis," it said. 
Productivity or average sales value per employee in February 2016 decreased by 1.2% year-on-year and fell by 6.9% month-on-month to register RM49,964. 
The department said for the January-February period, the sales value of the manufacturing sector decreased 2.4% to register RM106.6 billion, while the number of employees engaged decreased by 0.2% to register 1,028,301 persons.