KUALA LUMPUR: The manufacturing sector has maintained its positive momentum since January, with sales value increasing by 5.9 per cent to RM156.1 billion in June 2024, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
This marks a slight increase from May 2024, when growth was recorded at 5.5 per cent.
DOSM indicated that this growth was mainly fueled by the electrical and electronics (E&E) products sub-sector, which expanded by 7.1 per cent following a 12.2 per cent increase in May 2024.
"The growth was also supported by the Food, beverages & tobacco sub-sector, with an increase of 8.6 per cent, and the Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products, which rose by 11.1 per cent."
"On a month-on-month basis, the sales value grew by 0.8 per cent from RM154.9 billion in May 2024," it said.
The sector also reported a total of 2.37 million employees, reflecting a 1.0 percent increase, up from the 0.9 percent growth recorded in May 2024.
"The increase was observed largely in the Food, beverages & tobacco and the Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products."
"On the contrary, the number of persons engaged in the Manufacture of computer, electronics & optical products decreased by 0.9 per cent," said DOSM.
Meanwhile, salaries and wages in the manufacturing sector increased by 1.8 per cent, totaling RM8.20 billion.
DOSM noted that salaries and wages saw a modest increase of 0.1 per cent compared to the previous month, following a 1.0 per cent growth in May 2024.
This led to a 0.8 per cent rise in average monthly salaries and wages per employee, reaching RM3,459.
At the same time, the sales value per employee increased by 4.8 per cent, amounting to RM65,874.In the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24), the manufacturing sector achieved RM464.2 billion in sales, reflecting a 5.7 per cent growth, driven by the electrical and electronics (E&E) products sub-sector, which grew by 7.3 per cent, and the food, beverages, and tobacco sub-sector, which saw an 8.2 per cent increase.