First pick-up in Northern economy in four months

The North’s private sector economy showed the first signs of growth in four months in March, according to fresh data.

The latest Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI (purchasing managers’ index) — one of the chief barometers of growth for the North’s economy — posted a reading of 50.2 points, last month, in its “business activity” index. This was up from 48.8 in February. Any rating above the neutral 50 point mark signifies a sector, or economy, in growth mode. It was the first rise in business activity since November and while new business orders were also up for the 21st time in the past 22 months, new export orders for Northern firms continued to decline, with survey respondents linking the latest reduction to the weakness of the euro compared with sterling.

The first quarter of 2015, as a whole however, marked the first quarterly decline for the North’s private sector in almost two years.