Accelerated growth in total output in December

Total output increased by 6.2 per cent in the year to December. After adjustment for seasonal variation, output in December was up by 0.4 per cent from November. In November output increased by 4.4 per cent on the preceding year. Output grew in December in all branches of industry. The data are based on Statistics Finland's monthly indicator of total output.

Output in agriculture and forestry increased by one per cent in December. Output in manufacturing was close on 9 per cent higher compared to the year before as calculated per working day. Output in the construction industry grew by nearly 16 per cent and that in the wholesale and retail trade by a good 3.5 per cent. Output in transport and communications was up by over 8 per cent on the year before and that in other services as well as in government services by 3 per cent from December 1995.

The monthly indicator of total output is based on eleven monthly series on different sectors of the economy, which are weighted and summed up.

Source: Statistics Finland, Monthly Indicator of Total Output, December 1996
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