§ Mr. Churchillasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, taking February 1974 as 100, what has been the level of United Kingdom industrial production in February of each subsequent year as well as the most recent month for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesThe table below shows the all-industries index of industrial production for each of the months specified in the Question, seasonally adjusted and resealed to February 1974=100. The figure for May 1978, the most recent month for which data are available, is provisional.
INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION Seasonally adjusted rescaled to February 1974=100 February 1974 100.0 February 1975 101.2 February 1976 97.5 February 1977 100.0 February 1978 100.4 May 1978 100.7 The use for some industries of series which measure deliveries or sales rather than production can result in the index overstating or understating the level of output, and makes measurement from the early months of 1974—when production was disrupted by the three day week—particularly hazardous. Adjustments for this effect, however, are available only quarterly. The quarterly data after adjustment, resealed to 1st qtr 1974=100, are given in the table below:
INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION: IMPLIED LEVEL OF OUTPUT Seasonally adjusted rescaled to 1st Qtr 1974=100 1st Qtr 1974 100.0 1st Qtr 1975 101.2 1st Qtr 1976 97.7 1st Qtr 1977 100.6 1st Qtr 1978 100.5