Industrial production up 7% in October

Seasonally adjusted manufacturing output was up over 7% in October compared to the previous month, figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

On an annual basis production for October 2011 increased by 13.4% when compared with October 2010.

Industrial production for the three-month period covering August 2011 to October 2011 was 6.2% higher than in the preceding three month period, the CSO said.

The high-tech and chemical sectors showed a monthly increase of 9.2%, compared to a rise of just 0.9% for 'traditional' manufacturing.

Analysts described the figures as encouraging.

Employers' group IBEC said it was positive to see that output from the Irish manufacturing sector is continuing to grow despite the very difficult trading conditions in the eurozone.

"It is really encouraging to see that the Irish manufacturing sector appears to be holding up well in the face of ongoing eurozone turmoil," IBEC chief economist Fergal O'Brien said.

"Ireland has a number of high value sectors which are relatively immune to the normal business cycle trends and these are helping to underpin our continued healthy export performance."