KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's manufacturing sector sales value rose 5.5 percent year-on-year to 501.5 billion ringgit (127.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, official data showed Friday.

The number of employees for the sector grew 1.1 percent to 2.4 million during the quarter, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement.

For March, the manufacturing sector posted a sales value of 173.1 billion ringgit, growing 5.3 percent.