Industry failing to keep up momentum - IBEC

IBEC has said February's CSO figures for industrial production published today were "very disappointing".

IBEC Chief Economist David Croughan said: "The stronger performance promised in January was not maintained in February and growth in the first two months of the year was up only 2% on the same period of 2005.

"Having seen some resurgence in the modern sector in the three months to January, the February figures were very disappointing. Weak chemicals sector performance in February, which fell by 23% year-on-year, had a strong influence on total production.

"There is also a weakness in office machinery and computers, where annual growth in the first two months was only 1.6%, demonstrating just how tough trading conditions are," he added.

The "other sectors" showed a more encouraging performance with output in the first two months of the year up 4% compared with the same period of 2005.

"But before getting too excited," Mr Croughan warned, "the comparison was with a very low base, and the last quarter to February showed seasonally adjusted output only just about holding its own."