The services sector eked out growth in March as the expansion in new business weakened, confidence waned and cost pressures linked to the Middle East conflict intensified, a survey showed today.
The AIB S&P Global Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.7 in March from 51.8 in February.
The sector has stayed above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction for more than five years.
New business growth slowed for a fourth month in a row and to its weakest pace since August, while new export business was broadly flat after an eight-month run of expansion.
Input price inflation accelerated to a three-year high, driven by fuel, energy, wages, pension contributions, raw materials and professional services. Firms raised their own prices at a faster rate in March.
Service providers cut staff for only the third time in the past five years, ending a six-month run of job creation as high costs and competition prompted firms not to replace leavers or reduce headcounts.
Confidence about activity over the next 12 months stayed positive but weakened to its lowest since October 2020, with firms citing high costs, economic uncertainty and the war in the Middle East.
