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.
  

