The services sector enjoyed a strong increase in incoming new business in October, though activity expansion overall eased from September, and was the weakest in 18 months.
The seasonally adjusted NCB Purchasing Managers index fell to 60.1 last month, from 63.5 in September. Any figure over 50 indicates an expansion.
NCB said that around 35% of panellists indicated that activity had increased since September, compared to 14% who noted a decline. NCB said that Irish services firms registered a sharp expansion in employment numbers in October.
'Although the latest PMI reading is the lowest so far this year, the rate of activity growth remains very strong', commented Dermot O'Brien, chief economist at NCB.
He added that service sector confidence is running at a high level, incoming business and business backlogs are buoyant and employment continues to grow rapidly.
Input prices paid by Irish services firms rose sharply in the month. Firms noted that salaries increased as part of efforts to retain high quality staff. However, the rate of cost inflation eased for the fourth month in a row and was the least marked since March.
Output charges rose for the 16th month in a row and the index also reveals that over 55% of services firms were optimistic regarding the outlook for business activity.
