The construction industry also at last seems to be recovering from the setbacks suffered in the late 1990s, and its real value added rose by 4 per cent in 2001 - double positive in that it also adds to the economy’s productive capacity.
On that score it is notable that in manufacturing, where the utilisation of production capacity is regularly monitored, the utilisation rate stood at 79,4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2001. This is still more than four percentage points below the peak rate recorded in 1995, indicating sufficient productive capacity to accommodate a further output expansion.