In the course of the third

quarter this year, sales in the medical, precision and optical instruments manufacturing

subsector increased by Lm2.6 million, while those for the

textiles and textile products and the radio, television and communication equipment sub-sectors both went up by Lm2.2 million.

During the first nine months of 2004, total manufacturing sales stood at Lm 764.5 million compared to Lm765.8 million in the same period last year.

Employment, wages and salaries

In the third quarter this year, employment in the enterprises sampled fell by a net of 465 employees to 20,109, when compared to the same period the year before. Most of the job losses were registered in the wearing apparel and clothes (-249 employees), the chemicals and chemical products (-225 employees) and the furniture and manufacturing (-163 employees) manufacturing sub-sectors.

An increase in employment was recorded by the textiles and textile products (247 employees) the rubber and plastic products (195 employees) and the medical, precision and optical instruments (164 employees) manufacturing subsectors.

When taking into account employment figures at the end of June and at the end of September 2004, a net increase of 67 employees was registered. The rubber and plastic products and the radio, TV and communication equipment manufacturing sub-sectors contributed most of this increase, with 91 and 68 employees respectively.

In the third quarter of 2004, an amount of Lm30.1 million was paid out in wages and salaries by the enterprises sampled.

Investment

During the July-September quarter 2004, overall investment in manufacturing industry decreased by Lm2.5 million to Lm9.6 million compared to Lm12.1million for the same period of the previous year. On the other hand, investment during the first nine months of 2004 added up to Lm40 million, an increase of Lm3.7 million or 10.2 per cent over the Lm36.3 million registered during the same period 2003. Most of this increase was due to the chemicals and chemical products sub-sector with a Lm4.5 million increase and the publishing and printing sub-sector with a Lm2.3 million increase.