Malaysia Industrial Production Growth Improves In October

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's industrial output continued to expand at a faster pace in October, figures from the Department of Statistics showed on Friday.

Industrial production climbed 6.0 percent year-on-year in October, faster than the 5.7 percent rise in the previous month.

Among sectors, the annual growth in manufacturing accelerated to 6.5 percent from 5.0 percent, primarily spurred by growth in export-oriented industries.

On the other hand, mining and quarrying output growth moderated to 5.8 percent from 10.2 percent. Similarly, electricity production rose at a slower pace of 1.2 percent versus 2.8 percent a month ago.

On a monthly basis, industrial output rebounded 2.1 percent in October, following a 0.02 percent drop in September.

Separate official data revealed that the annual retail sales growth slowed to 6.8 percent in October from 7.0 percent in September.

Retail sales in non-specialized stores grew 9.1 percent from last year, and those of other goods in specialized stores advanced by 5.2 percent.