Activity in the country's services sector rose for the second month in a row in May as new orders continued to rise.
The NCB Services Purchasing Managers index rose to 52.4 in May from 51 in April. NCB said that while the pace of growth in activity remained modest, it was at the sharpest pace since December 2007.
NCB said that activity rose across three of the four broad sectors monitored by the survey, with only tourism and leisure seeing a decline in May.
'The weak euro, however, should be a boost for tourism and exports more generally in the coming months,' commented NCB economist Brian Devine.
'The euro-area sovereign debt worries, which are weighing on financial markets, do not appear to be affecting the mood in the real economy. Confidence at Irish service providers rose to its highest level in two years with new orders continuing to rise,' he added.
Today's index reveals that business sentiment among service providers increased to its highest level in over two and a half years amid signs of strengthening economic conditions and improving confidence among customers.
New orders at services companies rose for the second month in a row, with the rate of expansion the sharpest since December 2007. Companies reported that marketing activities had helped to generate new business.
New export orders continued to grow in May, and at a faster pace than that for overall new business. NCB noted that new orders from abroad have now increased in each of the past nine months.
But unlike the manufacturing industry which saw the first growth in employment since 2007 last month, staffing levels in the services industry fell again as the modest rise in new business was not enough to justify recruiting staff. However, the rate of job cuts eased it the lowest level since May 2008.
May saw input costs falling again, mainly due to lower wage levels. Output prices also decreased again, due to intense competition as companies were forced to cut prices in an attempt to secure new business.
