Cross-border shopping patterns are set to switch from a south-north trend to a north-south one as the retail industry becomes the latest area to be squeezed by the contracting private sector economy in the North.

The North’s private sector economy slowed last month, as business activity growth eased to a 16-month low, with the services and retail sectors leading the slowdown.

Businesses in the North have witnessed the sharpest rise in new orders in more than a decade, research has indicated.

The private sector economy in Northern Ireland is starting to show signs that the worst of the downturn is over, new figures have indicated.

The private sector economy in Northern Ireland is starting to show signs that the worst of the downturn is over, new figures indicate.

Private sector jobs are still being lost in the North because of economic uncertainty and falling levels of new business, it was revealed.

An additional 500 people joined the unemployment lines in the North during September, it was confirmed today.

The number of unemployed people in the North is expected to rise above 70,000 over the next 18 months, it was revealed today.

One of the North’s big four banks is now lending more to mortgage borrowers each month than at any time since 2007, and is also trying to hand out more loans at reduced rates.

One of the North’s Big Four banks is now lending more to mortgage borrowers each month than at any time since 2007, and is also trying to hand out more loans, at reduced rates.

The worst of the recession has been and gone in the North, new figures indicated today.

The recession is hitting businesses in the North harder than anywhere else in the UK, new figures indicated today.

The North's economy is already in recession and will fare worse than the UK as a whole during the current downturn, leading bankers said today.

Business costs in the North are at their highest since last November.

DESPITE strong growth in business activity and new order volumes, the rate of growth in the Northern Ireland economy slowed for the third consecutive month in April, according to the latest Ulster Bank Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).