Despite the disruption caused by the severe weather conditions in December, the recovery in the manufacturing sector continued last month.
The seasonally adjusted NCB Purchasing Managers' index rose for the third month in a row in December to stand at 52.2 compared to a reading of 51.2 in November. The improvement was the biggest since May.
The index revealed that both output and new orders rose at solid rates while employment also increased for the first time in seven months due to increased workloads.
NCB says that solid output growth was seen last month on the back of rising new business from both domestic and overseas markets. Production has now grown in each of the past ten months, with the December increase the best since June.
Overall new order growth expanded last month, with new export business continuing to increase at what NCB called a 'solid pace'. Asia, the Middle East and Britain were listed as the main sources of growth.
The index shows that input price inflation remained high in December, despite easing slightly over the month due to higher raw material and oil-related prices. But manufacturers lowered output prices over the month as firms offered discounts to stimulate new business.
'The evidence from the PMIs suggest that exports continue to perform robustly,' commented NCB economist Brian Devine.
'With weak domestic demand and decent exports, this suggests there will be a further positive contribution from net exports in the fourth quarter,' he added.
