Industrial turnover decreases

Provisional seasonally adjusted industrial turnover in the second quarter this year decreased by 2.6% over the previous quarter, according to national statistics. Over the corresponding quarter last year, working-day adjusted industrial turnover decreased by 11.1%.

Seasonally adjusted industrial turnover for the second quarter decreased by 2.6% to 96.8 points when compared to the first quarter. While capital goods increased by 7.9%, all the other main industrial groupings registered a decline, ranging from 3.5% in intermediate goods to 6.9% in non-durable consumer goods.

Seasonally adjusted industrial employment during the quarter under review remained stable when compared to the first quarter. Employment increases in consumer goods (+0.7%) and capital goods (+0.2%) were mitigated by a decrease in employment in intermediate goods (-1.5%) and energy (-0.2%). During this period, hours worked adjusted for seasonal effects edged up by 0.5%, whereas seasonally adjusted wages and salaries increased by 2.5%, when compared to the previous quarter.

When compared to the second quarter last year, working-day adjusted industrial turnover decreased by 11.1%, mainly due to a drop of 21.6% in intermediate goods. However, this decline was partially mitigated by an increase of 28% in capital goods.

Year-on-year data for unadjusted industrial employment went up by 0.2% on account of an increase in capital goods (+0.7%) and consumer goods (+0.4%). These increases were mitigated by a decline in employment in energy (-0.9%) and intermediate goods (-0.1%). Additionally, hours worked adjusted for calendar effects decreased by 0.2% while industrial gross wages and salaries increased by 1.3%.