PMI reveals steady growth

AS the Irish manufacturing industry continues to show solid improvements, the same sector in Britain has slid to its slowest pace in seven months.

According to the seasonally-adjusted NCB Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a measure of the economic health of the manufacturing industry, the Irish index remained broadly unchanged at 52.6, from February’s 52.4. A reading above 50 signals expansion.

NCB Stockbrokers chief economist Dermot O’Brien said: “The marginal improvement in manufacturing activity in March appears to have reflected less weakness in export orders.