Manufacturing still SA's best opportunity for job growth
The Manufacturing Circle is adamant that manufacturing is SA’s greatest opportunity for job-rich growth, despite the Absa purchasing managers’ index (PMI) spending six months in contractionary territory, reports Business Day. The seasonally adjusted PMI, which measures activity in manufacturing, rose to 48.6 index points in November from 47.8 in October. While a score above 50 indicates an expanding manufacturing sector, the PMI nevertheless rose to its highest level in six months. The report says the breakdown of the survey showed that the improvement in the headline index was driven by a pickup in current activity, but that firms remain pessimistic about the outlook. Manufacturing Circle executive director Philippa Rodseth said: ‘We (need to) continue our sustained efforts to achieve a competitive manufacturing environment, achieve a supportive international trade environment with particular reference to unfairly incentivised imports, and buy more locally manufactured product.’ The report says last month the Circle launched its Map to a Million initiative to create 1m direct jobs in manufacturing through industry interventions and government support to increase investment.