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PETALING JAYA: Various sectors in Malaysia recorded positive growth despite global economic uncertainties, raking in billions of ringgit in revenue in the final quarter of last year.
The services sector amassed RM368bil in the fourth quarter of last year, followed by manufacturing (RM61.5bil), and construction (RM32.6bil), according to the Statistics Department.
The services sector saw a 5.5% increase in revenue, generating jobs for 3.5 million people, and providing wages amounting to RM22.5bil.
The increase in this sector was contributed by professionals and real estate agents (6.6%) and health, education and arts, entertainment and recreation (6.4%) segments. The total revenue on quarterly basis increased by RM13.3bil or 4.7%.
The manufacturing sector recorded a 10.6% increase in revenue, providing wages amounting to RM3.4bil to more than a million workers.
The construction sector saw an 8.1% increase in revenue, chalking up RM32.6bil in the final quarter.
Selangor tops the list with RM7.1bil worth of construction projects, followed by Johor (RM6.8bil), Federal Territory (RM6.4bil), Sarawak (RM2.6bil) and Penang (RM1.7bil). The three states and the Federal Territory attributed to 75.6% of the total value of projects.
“The value of construction work done continues to be dominated by the private sector,” noted the Chief Statistician’s office in a summary released by the Department.
The private and public sectors recorded projects worth RM20bil and RM12.6bil respectively in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The Industrial Production Index (IPI) recorded a moderate growth of 4.7% in December compared with the corresponding month the previous year.
“The increase in December 2016 was driven by positive growth in all indices mainly manufacturing (4.3%), mining (5.8%) and electricity (6.1%),” it added.
The report noted that the increase in natural gas index (12.7%) and crude oil index (0.1%) had attributed to the higher growth of 5.8% in the mining sector in December, following an increase of 4.7% recorded in November.
The wholesale and retail trade also saw a 6.3% increase in growth last year.
However, it noted that the earnings from the motor vehicles sub-sector dipped by 1.9%. The decline was attributed to a 7.1% drop in motor vehicle sales.
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