| dc.description.abstract | As in the rest of the world, the recovery of economic growth in the Community, which had started in 1983, continued in 1984. Gross domestic produce grew by 2,2 % as against 1,0 % the previous year. The index of industrial output rose to 116,5 from 113,8 in 1983.2 Despite the strikes in the British coal industry and the German metal in-dustry, all the Community countries shared in the recovery, which con-cerned the production of both consumer goods (118,5 as against 115,8) and capital goods (111 ,5 as against 1 08,4). Employment appeared to level off after falling in 1983, but with the supply of labour continuing to expand, unemployment rose to 12% of the working population. The increase in consumer prices slackened fur-ther, dropping on average from 7,6 % in 1983 to 6,3 % in 1984. On the whole, foreign trade grew substantially with the increase in US imports providing a strong stimulus. |
