dustry in the twelve months to September 1973 even though, as Table 38 shows, consumer prices increased almost three-and-a-half times as fast as in the previous twelve month period.
Openings and Closures of Manufacturing Establishments
99. With the decline in the rate of growth of economic activity in 1970 and 1971, and with the subsequent emergence of currency uncer- tainties and shortages of raw materials, it is to be expected that manufacturing firms would try to reduce the rate of growth of unit costs by switching to new sources of raw materials and by increasing labour productivity. But some firms also would be forced to close down their establishments or be absorbed by competitors. In the twelve months to September 1973, a total of 3,695 manufacturing establishments registered with or recorded by the Labour Department ceased to operate; but, as against this, 4,255 establishments opened. Of the net increase of 560 establishments, 336 employed 20 or more persons, 139 employed 50 or more, and 78 em- ployed 100 or more.
Industrial Disputes
100. The number of industrial disputes handled by the Labour Relations Service of the Labour Department in the twelve months to September 1973 was 117 compared with 119 in the preceding twelve month period. But the number of man-days lost in these disputes was higher in the period to September 1973 (56,285) than in the twelve months to September 1972 (35,824). However, these figures are insignifi- cant when set against the statistics of employ- ment shown in Table 34.
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