The Irish economy is continuing to show signs of recovery from the slump experienced in the second half of last year, according to official statistics released today.
Industrial production rose by 11.6 per cent in the first quarter of the year compared to the fourth quarter of last year. Industrial output was 15.7 per cent higher than the same quarter last year, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
The CSO said production increases were recorded in intermediate goods - goods used in the production of other products - rose by 20 per cent and production of consumer goods jumped by 12.6 per cent. A decrease of 25.5 per cent was recorded for capital goods.
Basic chemical production rose by 40.1 per cent in the period while production of office machinery and computers fell by 38.7 per cent in the period reflecting the slowdown in the IT sector.