Manufacturing production rose 1.9% in November from a year earlier‚ offering a glimmer of good news for the economy’s growth prospects for the fourth quarter.

Manufacturing is the country’s fourth-biggest economic sector and accounts for about an eighth of SA’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Output and sales from the sector shrank 2.7% in October‚ and mining production that month fell 2.9% year on year. Mining production figures for November are due out on January 17.

Forecasts for the manufacturing sector’s performance in November varied widely‚ with Trading Economics forecasting an annual drop of 0.42% while the Bloomberg consensus was for growth of 0.3%.

Compared with October‚ manufacturing output rose 0.3% in November‚ Statistics SA said on Thursday.

The main contributors to November’s year-on-year increase were:

- basic iron and steel‚ non-ferrous metal products‚ metal products and machinery (up 6.1% and contributing one percentage point);

- food and beverages (up 2.3% and contributing 0.6 percentage points)

- wood and wood products‚ paper‚ publishing and printing (up 2.7% and contributing 0.3 percentage points)