MaltaMedia.com

When compared to the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted industrial turnover increased by 1.8 per cent to 117.2 points, according to new data released Thursday by the NSO. The growth in seasonally adjusted turnover was due to an increase in capital goods of 6.3 per cent, which outweighed all the main industrial groupings.

Seasonally adjusted employment remained stable when compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, while hours worked edged up by 0.3 per cent. On the other hand, wages and salaries
decreased by 2.8 per cent from 95.0 points in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 92.3 points in the first quarter this year.

When compared to the corresponding quarter last year, working day adjusted turnover edged up by 0.4 per cent. This resulted from increases in energy and capital goods of 14.3 and 8.7
per cent respectively, but partially offset by a decrease of 17.3 and 0.5 per cent in intermediate and consumer goods respectively.

Year-on-year employment declined by 0.8 per cent, mainly due to drops in employment in intermediate goods and energy of 1.8 and 3.5 per cent respectively. Increases in employment
were reported in capital and consumer goods of 0.3 and 0.8 per cent respectively.

When comparing the first quarter this year with the corresponding quarter in 2011, working day adjusted hours decreased by 0.7 per cent, while working day adjusted wages and salaries
edged down by 0.1 per cent.