Construction activity remained buoyant last month, though the pace of growth slowed as housing activity fell to its lowest in a year, new figures from Ulster Bank show.

The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) - designed to measure the overall performance of the construction economy - registered 56.4 in October, compared with 56.9 in September. Any reading above 50 represents expansion. However, while the most recent reading signals expansion in each month since September 2003, it also shows the slowest rate of growth in 15 months.

Commenting on the survey, Pat McArdle, chief economist at Ulster Bank, said signs of more subdued activity in the sector were gathering.

"Overall the sector continues to expand strongly but the rate of increase is decelerating," he said. "While new orders held up well and commercial activity accelerated from an already high level, the rate of growth in housing was the slowest in a year and civil engineering also eased back."

In terms of construction itself, activity growth was recorded in all three construction areas monitored by the survey - construction, housing and commercial - albeit at a slower pace in some areas.

Civil engineering came out on top again, though even in this area the rate of expansion eased for the third month in a row.