The industrial situation in 1971 was characterised by exceptionally slow growth in most sectors, by stagnation and decline in a few; by a drop in the high level of strike activity, though not in all sectors; by rapidly rising unemployment, particularly during the second half of the year; and by some signs, during the last few months, of a modest slowing down of the high rate of wage inflation which prevailed in 1970 and most of 1971. The small increase in production and the substantial fall in the number of people in work were accompanied by an unusually large increase in output per head (table 1).