Manufacturing investment up

Overall investment in the manufacturing industry last year totalled Lm50.5 million, a net increase of Lm1.5 million or 3.1 per cent over 2003, the National Statistics Office said.

In the October-December 2004 quarter, the investment decreased by Lm3 million to Lm9.7 million compared to Lm12.7 million for the same period in 2003.

In the last quarter of the year, Lm30.6 million were paid out in wages and salaries by the sampled enterprises.

In the same period, total sales by manufacturing enterprises dropped by 5.2 per cent to Lm248.8 million from Lm262.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Employment in the sampled enterprises declined by a net of 379 employees to 19,770 when compared to 20,149 in the same period the year before.

The NSO said the bulk of job losses was registered in the wearing apparel and clothes (-378 employees), chemicals (-263 employees) and food and beverages (-170 employees) sub-sectors.

An increase in employment was recorded in the textiles and textile products (+558 employees), rubber and plastic products (+199 employees) and medical, precision and optical instruments (+67 employees) sub-sectors.

Employment in manufacturing as at the end of December 2004 registered a net decrease of 128 persons when compared to the previous quarter.