Manufacturing picked up pace in Ireland in September, with a seasonally adjusted measure of the industry’s health recording a seventh month of improvement in a row.

The NCB Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 51.8 last month from 50.9 in August, above the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.

NCB chief economist Philip O’Sullivan said it was a “welcome improvement” in conditions, with new orders continuing to show growth, and employment also lifting during September. But while new orders recorded a reading of 52.3, the eighth month of a positive reading in a row, there was a drop in new export orders, which fell to 48.4.