Chapter III. Industrial Production

In 1968, the last year in which output grew rapidly, the index of industrial production advanced by more than 5 per cent. Throughout 1970 and 1971 output grew by less than 1 per cent per annum. The revival started in the spring of 1972 after a substantial drop in production caused by the miners' strike (chart 1). By the last quarter the index of industrial production was 7 per cent above the level recorded a year earlier though output for the year as a whole was probably only some 3 per cent up on 1971. The index covering manufacturing industry alone followed a similar trend. Last February we forecast 3.7 per cent growth in industrial production but two major strikes—the miners' in the winter and the building workers' in the summer—prevented output from growing as rapidly as it might otherwise have done.