Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Manufacturing Output – 6 February 1989

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Manufacturing Output on 6th February 1989.

Mr. Butterfill To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current rate of manufacturing output in the United Kingdom for the last year for which figures are available; what were the comparable figures in the previous 12 month period; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Major Manufacturing output in the three months up to November 1988 was 7.2 per cent. higher than in the same period a year earlier. The comparable figure for the previous 12 months was 5.8 per cent. Manufacturing output reached its highest ever level during 1988. Over the last five years its annual growth rate has averaged 4 per cent. This is in stark contrast to the economy’s performance between 1974 and 1979 when it fell on average by ½ per cent. a year.