The Industrial Production Index of the A.C. of the Basque Country rose 3.4% in October 2002, with regard to the same month the previous year, according to EUSTAT data. Measured in homogeneous terms of working days, however, the General Index of Industrial Production remained stable (0.0%), as the month of October had one working day more than October 2001. With this data, the accumulate rate for the first ten months of the year obtained a 0.8% increase on the same period the previous year in aboslute terms.

In the month of October 2002, the most positive inter-annual variations corresponded to the sectors of "Electric energy, gas and water" (12.7%), "Non-metal industry" (10.0%), "Transport material" (9.3%), and "Electric material" (8.8%), among others.

Among the sectors that showed the most negative inter-annual rates were "Oil Refining" (-25.3%), "Textiles and clothing" (-19.8%), "Food industry" (-1.5%) and "Rubber and plastic" (-1.1%), mainly.

Consumer Goods experienceda 1.0% positive evolution, in absolute terms, in the first ten months of the year, Intermediate Goods rose 0.3% while Capital Goods accumulated a 2.1% fall on the same period the previous year.

The variations in the General Index of Industrial Production for October 2002 with regard to the same month last year, were positive in the three provinces: Álava (5.9%), Bizkaia (3.9%) and Gipuzkoa (1.7%).

In the balance of the first ten months of the year, without correcting for working days, the provincial performance was quite different. In Gipuzkoa there was a 1.4% decrease, followed by Bizkaia with a 0.8% fall and finally Alava which registered a slight 0.4% increase.

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