The rate of growth in the country's services sector slowed for the second month in a row in April, the latest figures show.
The NCB Services PMI fell to 50.2 from 51.1 in March due to the fragile economic conditions. Any figure above 50 signals growth in the sector.
However, service providers increased employment levels last month for the first time since February 2008 due to increased workloads.
The index shows that higher fuel and raw materials costs were the main reasons for the marked rise in input costs last month. But the rate of inflation was the weakest in three months, NCB noted.
Companies in the sector remained hopeful that activity will be higher in 12 months time, which NCB said reflected expectations of improving economic conditions and growth in demand from export markets.
NCB said that total new orders for Irish service companies increased for the third month in a row. A number of firms said that overall new business growth came mainly from higher new orders from abroad. New export business saw a strong rise in April, with the rate of expansion faster than that seen in March.
'There may be some stabilisation in employment in the economy, but the clear implication from the retail sales data and the services PMI is that consumers/business are continuing to maintain high savings rates,' commented NCB chief economist Brian Devine.
'If, however, the stabilisation in employment is the start of a trend this signals an important turning point that will ultimately lead to more spending in the economy,' he added.
