Business activity in the services sector continued to grow strongly last month, though the pace of growth was the slowest for 21 months, new figures from NCB Stockbrokers show.

The NCB Purchasing Managers' Services Index, designed to monitor business conditions in the sector, registered 58.8 in November, compared with 60.1 in October. Any reading above 50 signals expansion.

Commenting on the results, Dermot O'Brien, chief economist at NCB, said that while the overall pace of growth in activity had eased somewhat, the services sector still continues to expand robustly and optimism remains high.

Respondents attributed the growth in business activity to an increase in new orders and the launch of new services. According to the index, growth has been recorded in every month for the past 3½ years, though November's growth was the least marked since February 2005.

The number of people employed in the sector also increased in November, though that too was at a slower pace than in October.

The only element not to slow from the previous month was inflationary pressure, with companies reporting a sharp increase in input costs in November from October. Prior to November, the rate of cost inflation had eased for the previous four months.

Overall, while the degree of optimism about future prospects eased slightly, it remained above average for the past year, the index showed.