Factory output up in Northern Ireland
Manufacturing in Northern Ireland has recently been performing better than the UK as a whole.
Factory output was up by 1.1% in the second quarter of the year on the previous quarter, while for the UK the rise was 0.8%, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
Manufacturing output levels increased by 0.2% compared to the same quarter a year ago against a fall for the UK of 0.4%.
However, when the most recent four quarters are compared to the previous four quarters, the fall in Northern Ireland’s output of 3.8% was greater than that for the UK as a whole of 1.8%.
Manufacturing comprises the main element (85%) of Northern Irelands’ index of production index; the other elements are utilities, energy and mining.
Provisional results from the Index of Production for the second quarter of 2013 showed no change in production over the quarter, while output in the UK as a whole increased by 0.7%.