• Manufacturing sales value up 24.4% YoY to RM157.4bn in August

• Higher employment growth in the manufacturing sector

• Salaries & wages paid rose by 7.5% YoY

• Productivity went up by 19.3% YoY in July

• Outlook for manufacturing sales will remain positive

Malaysia’s manufacturing sales sustained its double-digit growth or 24.4% in August to RM157.4bn, its fastest in 15 months and 27th consecutive months of expansion. The YoY increment in August was driven by electrical & electronics (E&E) products (August: 25.8%; July: 26.1%), petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic products (August: 27.6%; July: 19.1%) and food, beverages & tobacco products (August: 18.4%; July: 14.4%)

On MoM basis, the sales value rose by 5.9% (July: RM148.4bn) while in a seasonally adjusted terms, the sales value increased by 4.8%.

Likewise, with higher sales, employment in the manufacturing sector in August 2022 was 2,309,353 persons, an increase of 4.3% YoY. The increment was contributed by the E&E sector (6.9%), wood, furniture, paper products and printing (4.9%), transport equipment and other manufacture products (5.5%) and food, beverages, and tobacco (2.8%). On a MoM basis, the number of employees increased 0.4% as compared to 2,300,906 persons registered in the preceding month.

Salaries & wages paid amounted to RM7.8bn, rose by 7.5% YoY or RM541.3mn in August 2022. Meanwhile, salaries & wages paid in August 2022 increased by 0.8% MoM (RM64.5mn). Meanwhile, the average salaries & wages paid per employee in August was RM3,365, increased by 3.0% and grew 0.4% MoM.

Productivity or sales value per employee in in August increased by 19.3% YoY to register RM68,174. Meanwhile, on month-on-month basis, the average sales value per employee expanded by 5.7%.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 12 Oct 2022