The volatility of Irish economic data was highlighted today by the release of industrial production figures that show a steep decline in the high tech sector but a solid performance in more traditional industries.
The data released from the Central Statistics Office shows that production fell from a two-year high of 8.3 per cent in the November-January period to only 1.5 per cent in the December-February period.
The decline in the moving average was due to a steep fall in the "modern" category, including chemicals and computers, which fell 21.7 per cent in February compared to February 2005.
Commenting on the figures, Ibec economist David Croughan said: "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 per cent year-on-year, had a strong influence on total production," he said.
But production in chemicals and computers is notoriously volatile as factories re-tool and switch to new product lines. Royalty payments and revenues tend to be accounted on a once-off basis leading to wildly fluctuating monthly figures.
However, despite the dip in February, production in the modern sector was 3.2 per cent better in year-on-year terms than the December-February period. The less volatile "traditional" sector was ahead by 3.8 per cent.
Within this sector, food and beverages, which is the Irish economy's largest indigenous industry, increased production volumes by 5.4 per cent.