THE NUMBER of people employed in the North’s private sector fell for the 43rd consecutive month in September, new research shows.

According to the latest Ulster Bank purchasing managers index, local firms continued to struggle to win new business last month and this had a knock-on effect on the number of people they employed.

The latest research suggests monthly job cuts and redundancies are becoming an increasingly familiar characteristic among private-sector businesses in the North.

The bank’s index highlights that although business activity fell further in September, the rate of decline was much slower than in previous months.

Local firms once again blamed “underlying demand weakness” as the key reason for the continued drop in business activity.

The research points to “widespread economic uncertainty” as one of the major deterrents for businesses and consumers when it comes to committing to new spending.

Richard Ramsey, Ulster Bank’s chief economist in Northern Ireland, said the North’s private sector was “patiently waiting for its first month of growth in almost four years”.

He said the North was the only part of the UK not to record growth in September, but he was not predicting a return to private-sector growth any time soon, despite the fact that the pace of contraction had eased slightly.

“More than one-third of firms reported a decline in exports last month,” Mr Ramsey added. “With the global outlook deteriorating, this figure is expected to rise in the months ahead.”