Report points to encouraging growth for services industry
Employment levels are on the rise in the services industry here in Ireland, according to figures released today.
The latest NCB Republic of Ireland Services Purchasing Managers' Index shows a 56.8 growth rate in December - the fastest expansion since August 2007.
A reading of the PMI below 50 indicates that the services economy is generally declining; above 50 indicates that it is generally expanding.
The data also shows that the rate of growth in new business from abroad stands at the highest level since records began in June 2002.
"Within the data, we see that growth in New Business remains healthy, with respondents reporting an improvement from both domestic and external markets during January," said Philip O’Sullivan, chief economist at NCB Stockbrokers.
"We are encouraged to see that the rate of growth in new exports stands at the highest level since the series began in June 2002.
"These positive dynamics are encouraging employers in the services sector to take on more staff, with the Employment index increasing at its fastest rate since Q1 2007.
"For some time now we have highlighted the mis-match between output prices (falling) and input prices (rising) for the sector.
"Output prices have been in negative territory since July 2008, but last month saw the slowest rate of decline since then, with the unadjusted data pointing to prices increasing in three of the four segments of the services sector during January.
"On the input side, costs rose at their fastest pace in three months during January. Panellists attributed this to increased taxation, energy costs and, interestingly, higher salary payments."
The report is produced by Markit. It collects survey data from a representative panel of around 300 firms based in the Irish services sector.
