New figures show that activity in the manufacturing sector continued to fall sharply in September.
The NCB Purchasing Managers' Index recorded 43.7, worse than the August figure and only slightly better than July's record low of 43.4. Any figure below 50 means activity declined.
The report said a lack of new orders continued to hit Irish manufacturers, with big declines in orders from Irish and foreign companies.
Employment levels continued to fall, the tenth monthly drop in a row, though the decline was not as steep as in the previous two months.
The report showed that there was another substantial rise in costs for companies, but the rate of inflation eased sharply as oil prices fell. This index dropped to 63.9 from 69.5 in August.
NCB economist Brian Devine said manufacturing firms were being squeezed by a fall-off in domestic and international demand. He added that reduced demand for exports from the euro zone and UK was likely to continue in the coming months.
