Service sector in strong position: NCB service industry survey
Overall levels of Irish service sector business activity continued to rise strongly in December, according to the latest NCB Purchasing Managers’ Services Index.
The survey covers all private sector services in Ireland, excluding retail and wholesale.
Survey data showed that overall levels of Irish service sector business activity continued to rise strongly in December. The seasonally-adjusted Business Activity Index registered 58.6 (down from 59.4), to indicate that the rate of growth was only slightly below the four-month peak observed in November.
Chief Economist at NCB StockbrokersDermot O’Brien said: "Though the pace of growth in services activity eased a little in December, it was still among the best performances of the year and 2004 ended with a high and improving level of business confidence in the sector."
December data indicated a further increase in levels o f I rish s ervice s ector employment, which
panel firms reported was necessary to cope with growth in demand. However, the rate of job
creation eased slightly from the peak it reached in the previous month.
Average costs facing Irish service providers continued to rise strongly in December (though the rate of inflation eased slightly for the second month in a row). Panellists linked the increase to growth in salaries and fuel and energy rates.
Service providers signalled a rise in average prices charged for the third successive month. However, the rate of output price inflation was modest, with firms reporting that strong competition had, to a large extent, limited their pricing power
