Industrial, construction sectors continue to shrink

Polish industrial output shrank in year-on-year terms for the third month running in January. The fall in production in January was less than in December, when it reached 4.8%, but much larger than last November's decline of 0.8%. Last year total industrial output fell by 2.4%, while construction and assembly fell by 21.3% during the same period. "We had some signals that the first signs of economic recovery could have been seen already last month, but these numbers do not confirm such expectations," said Dariusz Rosati, member of the central bank's Monetary Policy Council (RPP). (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2; Reuters) A.K.