South Africa Manufacturing Output Falls Less Than Forecast

(RTTNews) - South Africa's manufacturing production contracted for the third straight month in May, though at a slower-than-expected pace, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday.

Manufacturing output fell 2.3 percent year-over-year in May, following a revised 7.6 percent decline in April. That was just below the 2.4 percent drop expected by economists.

The negative contributions to the annual fall were largely driven by motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment, food and beverages, wood and related products, paper, publishing and printing items, basic iron and steel and other metal products.

On a monthly basis, manufacturing production edged down 0.2 percent from April, when it decreased by 5.7 percent. Meanwhile, output was expected to rebound by 1.5 percent.

In the three months to May, manufacturing production was down 3.4 percent from the previous three months.