New orders for manufacturing fall by 6.6 % in Q3

New orders for manufacturing industries fell by 6.6 per cent in the third quarter of last year in comparison to the same period in 2010, figures released by the National Statistics Office show.

The slowdown was attributable to a fall of 7.8 and 13.6 per cent in new orders for intermediate and consumer goods. New orders for capital goods rose by 10.6 per cent.

Domestic manufacturing new orders decreased by 17.1 per cent, mainly on account of a 24.8 and 26.8 per cent drop in intermediate and consumer goods, while new orders for capital goods rose by 14.5 per cent. Similarly, non-domestic new orders retracted by 2.8 per cent, as a result of a 6.9 and 10.3 per cent drop in new orders for intermediate and consumer goods.

In contrast, new orders for capital goods in this market rose by 11.9 per cent.

Industrial employment in the third quarter of 2011 increased by 1.1 per cent over the same period in 2010, boosted by a rise in employment for intermediate and capital goods of 0.9 and 7.2 per cent. Employment in energy and consumer goods however fell by 1.8 and 0.3 per cent.

The gross wages and salaries index for the quarter increased by 8.4 per cent to 97.6 points, reflecting an increase in gross wages and salaries for nearly all the main industrial groupings, particularly in energy and capital goods, which rose by 23.4 and 13.7 per cent.

A decrease in gross wages and salaries was recorded in the durable consumer goods sector by 3.5 per cent.

Hours worked increased by one per cent, reflected in a rise in hours worked in the intermediate and capital goods sectors by 3.1 and 2.6 per cent respectively. Hours worked in energy and in the consumer goods sector fell by 1.8 and 0.8 respectively.