Production and employment increase despite static manufacturing growth

WHILE growth in Ireland’s manufacturing industries remained largely static last month, increases in production, new business orders and employment numbers were reported by companies.

The latest monthly NCB Purchasing Managers’ Index for November, which was published yesterday, was level on a rolling month-by-month basis at 52.3 points (that figure marked a five-month low in October). On a positive note, the index has stayed above the neutral 50-point mark for 51 months.

“Growth in manufacturing activity in November held at the same moderate pace as in October. Output growth accelerated a little but there was some slacking in the rate of growth in new orders, especially from abroad. However, employment gains continued — at a marginally slower rate than in October but more buoyantly than the average in earlier months,” according to NCB Stockbrokers chief economist Dermot O’Brien.