The manufacturing industry recovered somewhat in October, according to Investec's latest Purchasing Managers’ Index.
In the month, output and new orders continued to recover from the falls seen in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.
However, managers reported that sterling weakness has made securing new work in the UK more difficult.
The headline PMI improved to 52.1 last month from September’s 51.3 reading.
However, new export orders are still under pressure as sterling weakness continues to hit home.
On the margin side, input costs increased for a sixth successive month in October as higher costs for items such as food and oil, as well as a strengthening of the US dollar against the euro, more than outweighed imported deflation from the weak pound.
Firms were, however, able to once more pass on at least some of this overall cost pressure by hiking output prices, as they have done in each of the past five months.
Manufacturers reported an increase in backlogs of work in the year to October, arising from the uptick in new orders.
Commenting on the research, Chief Economist at Investec Ireland Philip O’Sullivan said: “We previously spoke of ‘well-founded caution on the part of Irish manufacturers as we head into the year-end’.
“October’s modest improvement is not enough to make us change that assessment, not least given next week’s US elections, which could have a significant impact on the health of the sector (c. 22% of Irish merchandise exports go to the US).”
