The manufacturing sector shed almost 900 jobs in the first three months of the year as it took a drop of €122 million in sales.

The sector employed 16,463 people until March and paid out €65.8 million in wages and salaries.

Significantly lower employment levels were recorded in the radio, TV and communication equipment sector, which saw a drop of 576 employees.

Companies manufacturing rubber and plastic products also saw employment levels drop significantly, shedding 236 jobs.

The publishing and printing sector was the third hardest hit, employing 173 fewer people. The bleak picture presented in the manufacturing survey published by the National Statistics Office yesterday was further aggravated by a huge drop in investment by players in the sector. Investment went down to €14 million, a drop of almost 70 per cent over the same period last year. Investment totalled €45 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Sales amounted to €422 million in the first quarter of the year, down from a turnover of €544 million in 2008.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.