| dc.description.abstract | Rapid reports Energy and industry 1993 D 26 ISSN 1016-0191 Extract from "Industrial Trends - October 1993" Zero growth continues Production continues to fall In European Industry and there is no sign of it bottoming out. This diagnosis applies to all sectors of industrial goods. The Commu-nity's construction industry also shows eco-nomic weakness. -1.5 % (estimated), Belgium -2.0 % (estimated). Den-mark -3.0 %. Production thus fell or remained at a low level with slight positive rates of change in most Member States in the summer. The rate of change of the industrial produc-tion index, adjusted for working days, was -4.5 % down for the Community in July 1993 over the corresponding month of the previous year: the figure in June was -4.2 %. The corresponding rate of change in July for capital goods was -5.7 %. If one takes the figures for the last three available months, May to July 1993, the rate of change in the seasonally-adjusted pro-duction index for EUR 12 was -1.0 % com-pared to that of the three preceding months, February to April. The recession is even more pronounced in Japan where the corresponding rate of change is -2.4 %. There is a levelling off in the USA where the figure is +0.2 %. Hopes of a recovery in the construction industry (NACE 5) were dashed in the Com-munity, the rate of change in the first quarter of 1993 was -6 % compared with the last quarter of the pre-vious year, the estimated rate for the second quarter being -1 % compared with January to March. At Member State level, the rates of change for the last three months compared with the previous months are as follows for the seasonally adjusted industrial pro-duction index: Greece +1.1 %, United Kingdom +0.8 %, Italy -0.1 %, Netherlands -0.6 %. Germany (West) -1.0 %, Ireland -1.0 % (esUmated), France Manuscript completed on = 14.10.1993 INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Growth rate May-July/ Febr.-April of the larger countries, only the United King-dom shows signs of an up-swing. Industrial pro-duction fell in the following sectors of EC in-dustry: manu-facture of metal articles (NACE 31), food, drink and tobacco (NACE 41/42). Textile industry (NACE 43) and footwear and 1 clothing (NACE 45). There was a slight recovery in the production of metals (NACE 22), the non-metallic mineral industry (NACE 24) and the motor vehicle industry (NACE 35), though the latter was exclusively due to the rate of change of +6.7 in the United Kingdom (Germany -1.3 %, Italy -2.3 %, France -2.4 %). |
