Malaysia's manufacturing sector up 5.2% y-o-y in July

In a statement, the department said the increase in sales was largely driven by the manufacture of insulated wires and cables, electronic components and motor vehicles which recorded an 37.0% 31.0%, 31.8% increase respectively from a year earlier.

However, sales value in 57 of the 116 industries captured in the survey reported a fall on a monthly basis, particularly the jewellary sector decreasing 47.5% to RM74.8 million compared to RM74.8 million in June 2012.

Meanwhile, productivity -- measured by the average sales value per employee -- slipped 0.6% to RM50,990 in July on a monthly basis but rose 4.6% from a year ago.

In the first half of 2012, Malaysia's manufacturing sectors recorded a 6.5% growth or RM22.1 billion to RM363.1 billion from RM341 billion previously, while productivity and salaries increased by 5.9% and 7.4% respectively.