Business activity in the country's services sector rose again in March, but the rate of expansion slowed over the month and was only slight.
The NCB Services PMI showed a reading of 51.1 in March, down from 55.1 in February. Any figure over 50 signals growth.
NCB noted that the pace of increase in new export orders was stronger than that seen for overall new business last month. New export orders have risen in 18 of the past 19 months.
The survey also revealed that employment in the country's services sector contracted again last month - and fell at the fastest pace in three months. Staffing levels have now fallen every month since March 2008.
'This remains the key problem for economic growth - the economy needs to break the negative feedback loop between declining services sector employment levels and domestic demand,' commented NCB's chief economist Brian Devine.
NCB said that input costs inflation rose at the fastest pace in two and a half years due to rising fuel costs. Input prices have now increased for four months in row.
Despite the increase in input costs, service providers lowered the prices charged to customers in an attempt to improve competitiveness. However, the cut in prices was the smallest in the current 32 month period of decline.
The survey showed that companies expressed strong optimism due to the expectation of more stable economic conditions. But the level of positive sentiment weakened slightly.
