Manufacturing up in September

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 although new orders recorded a reading of 52.3, the eight month in a row that it has had a positive reading, there was a drop in new export orders, which fell to 48.4. This was the first time that the sector had shrunk in seven months.

“This is likely to be driven to some extent by the well-documented challenges facing many of Ireland’s key trading partners,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Employment in the sector was still robust though, with a reading of 54.1 for the month.

Output prices showed their highest reading since April 2011, recording 54.8 for the month, which NCB said points to firms being able to offset some of the rise in input prices, which stood at 60.6 for the month.