There was a strong first month of the year for industrial production according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Central Statistics Office released today.
These show the volume of production in January was 9.4 per cent higher than in the same month last year. For the three months from November to January, production was up 5.6 per cent on the previous three months.
The high-tech and chemical industries in the "modern sector" showed a 10.3 per cent jump on compared with the same month the previous year. Industrial production in the "traditional" sector was up 5.8 per cent.
The CSO also said that the number of working days lost to industrial disputes in 2006 fell sharply with just 7,352 days were lost, compared with 26,665 in 2005.
Reacting to the news the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said it was disappointed that
65% of the total numbers of days lost last year were in the Construction sector.