SOVIET INDUSTRIAL GROWTH/TRADE SLOWER IN 1987
The Soviet Union's industrial output is
growing at a slower pace in 1987 than in 1986 and foreign trade
has fallen, Central Statistical Office figures show.
    Figures in the Communist Party newspaper Pravda show
industrial production rose 3.6 pct in the first nine months of
1987 against 5.2 pct in the same 1986 period.
    Foreign trade in the same period fell 3.6 pct from the 1986
period as exports fell by 0.5 pct and imports dropped by 4.2
pct.
    Foreign trade in the nine months totalled 94.2 billion
roubles. Separate import and export figures were not given.
    One factor affecting industrial growth was the introduction
of a new quality control plan, Western economists said. Last
year's calculations of industrial output included all goods,
irrespective of quality.
    Under the new plan, introduced in line with Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev's drive to modernise the economy, special
inspectors have the right to reject goods they consider below
standard.
    Pravda said 42 mln roubles worth of defective goods were
rejected in the nine-month period.
    The figures also showed that on October 1, there were more
than 8,000 cooperative enterprises employing over 80,000
people. More than 200,000 were employed in the private sector,
Pravda said, without giving comparative figures.
    The promotion of the cooperative and private sectors of the
economy has been an important part of the modernisation
campaign, with measures introduced recently to allow the
setting up of small shops on a private basis.
    Labour productivity rose 3.7 pct in the first nine months
against 4.8 pct growth in January to September 1986.
    But western economists said they treat Soviet productivity
figures with caution, as they are more broadly based than in
the West, which measures worker output over a given period.
    Pravda said there were 283.8 mln people in the Soviet Union
as of October 1. In the January to September 1987 period 118.5
mln people were employed, a rise of 4.4 pct on the same period
last year. Average earnings were 200 roubles a month against
194 roubles a year ago.
 REUTER
