Black September as job losses in manufacturing soar

MANUFACTURING companies are continuing to shed jobs with September seeing the sharpest rate of losses in a year.

Last month employment in the sector fell for the fourth time in the past five months with evidence suggesting staffing levels are being cut due to lower workloads.

According to the latest NCB purchasing managers index (PMI) the health of the sector here deteriorated further in September, as output contracted and new business fell at a faster pace.

On the price front, cost inflation eased again while firms lowered output prices in an attempt to improve competitiveness.

The PMI, an indicator designed to provide a measure of the health of the manufacturing industry, posted 47.3 in September, down from 49.7 in August.

NCB chief economist, Brian Devine, said new orders fell sharply last month to reach 45.8 from 47.7, with new export orders falling for the first time in 11 months. “These figures highlight the slowdown in the global economy over the last couple of months. We had already pencilled in a slowdown in our Irish 2011 GDP and expect it to contract marginally, unlike the consensus who expect expansion. We still, however, expect Ireland to hit its EU/IMF deficit targets,” he said.

New business fell for the fourth successive month, and at a marked pace, was the fastest since August 2009. New export orders also fell in September, the first reduction in a year.