HANOI, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's national index of industrial production advanced 1 percent year-on-year between January and May, the lowest level in the past several years, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Monday.
The rise is much lower than the 9.5-percent growth reported in the same period last year, the office said.
The main driver of the rise, the processing and manufacturing sector, went up 2.2 percent, while electricity production and distribution sector grew 2.6 percent, and water supply and waste management grew 2.9 percent.
Complex developments of the COVID-19 outbreak in the world have interrupted the input supply chain, which seriously impacted industrial activities, said the office.
Notably, the production of automobiles witnessed the largest output reduction year-on-year of 26.9 percent, followed by refined sugar (down 25.4 percent), beer (down 24.5 percent) and motorbikes (down 15.6 percent).
Meanwhile, outputs of phone components went up 18.1 percent, monosodium glutamate up 13.1 percent, and petroleum and oil up 10.7 percent.
As of May 1, the total number of employees in the industrial sector rose by 0.9 percent on-year. Employment in the processing and manufacturing businesses declined 1.8 percent, while that of mining ones went down 0.6 percent, said the office. Enditem
