New orders from Irish factories fall sharply: PMI 

New orders placed with Irish factories fell sharply in December.

New orders placed with Irish factories fell sharply in December and overall activity contracted for the second successive month, reflecting worsening business conditions, a major manufacturing survey shows.

The fall in new orders was the seventh successive monthly decline, although new export orders as opposed to goods destined for domestic markets fell more slowly, according to the AIB Ireland Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, which surveys the managers best placed to monitor manufacturing activity.