Manufacturing sector gathers pace as economy shows further improvement

BUSINESS conditions continued to improve for Irish manufacturers last month.

The monthly Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which is compiled by stockbrokers NCB, found the rate of improvement in business confidence was higher than the previous month.

The monthly index rose to 54.4, up from 53.7 and comfortably ahead of the key 50.0 mark, which represents the difference between positive and negative sentiment, for the seventh month in a row.