Industrial activity in the Basque Country grew by 0.4% in August

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Industrial activity in the Basque Country grew by 0.4% in August 2008. Photo: EFE

Industrial production in the A.C. of the Basque Country grew by 0.4% in August 2008 as regards the same month of 2007, in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to EUSTAT data.

Compared to the previous month, July 2008, industrial production in the A.C. of the Basque Country grew by 0.2%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

The balance for the first eight months of 2008 closed with an accumulated increase in the Industrial Production Index of 0.1% in relation to the first eight months of last year.

Sector evolution

By sectors, using the classification of the major industrial sectors, inter-annual evolution of the August 2008 index compared to that of August 2007 showed growth for Energy (5.6%) and Capital Goods (4.5%). Intermediate Goods fell by 0.9% and Consumer Goods decreased by 9.3%, as a result of the decrease suffered by both Consumer Durable Goods (-10.7%) and Consumer Non-Durable Goods (-9.0%).

Inter-monthly variations for August 2008, compared to July 2008, were: Capital Goods rose by 3.1%, Consumer Goods did so by 0.6% as a result of the rise experienced by Consumer Durable Goods (11.3%), since Consumer Non-Durable Goods fell by 3.2%. Energy fell by 1.0% and Intermediate Goods decreased by 0.6%.

Evolution by province

By province, inter-annual evolution of the Industrial Production Index followed a negative pattern in Álava, where it fell by 7.5%, and Bizkaia, where it did so by 0.6%, although it grew in Gipuzkoa by 5.4%.

The inter-monthly evolution of the provinces, August 2008 in relation to July 2008, was negative in Álava and Bizkaia (-1.9% and -1.7%, respectively), but showed 3.5% growth in Gipuzkoa.