New figures show that the services sector of the economy grew only slightly last month, as new export orders fell for the first time this year.
The NCB Services Purchasing Managers' Index recorded 51.7 in July, down from 52.4 in June. Any figure above 50 signals growth.
Overall, new business dropped for the third month in a row as weak economic conditions in Ireland continued and new business from abroad dropped slightly. The new business index recorded 49.2, with the export orders index falling to 49.6.
'The EU debt problems, US debt problems and US growth problems are destabilising not only the markets, but also general business confidence,' said NCB economist Brian Devine.
Companies reported that declining workloads led them to reduce staff numbers for the third month in a row. Apart from a slight rise in April this year, employment in the services sector has now fallen in every month since March 2008.
There was better news on costs, with the rate of price inflation for firms rising only marginally despite higher energy and fuel costs. But service providers continued to lower the prices they charged to customers, due to intense competition. The index for prices charged was 42.3, the lowest figure since September 2010.
Despite the falls in new orders, companies recorded a higher level of optimism, expecting an improvement in economic conditions to lead to increased activity over the next 12 months.
