The value of monthly services output in August was down almost 9 per cent year-on-year, but there was a slight recovery when compared with July, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The figures show output increased by 0.8 per cent in August when compared with July on a seasonally adjusted basis.
An increase of 0.4 per cent was recorded in July and 13 per cent in June. These increases follow the substantial drop in April when the value of services output fell by 21.3 per cent.
On an annual basis, services were 8.7 per cent lower in August compared with August 2019.
The largest monthly increases in August were in accommodation and food service activities (16.1 per cent) and other service activities (7.3 per cent).
Other sectors showing monthly increases were professional, scientific and technical activities (4.7 per cent) and wholesale and retail trade (0.5 per cent).
Decreases were recorded in administrative and support service activities (10.3 per cent), transportation and storage (1.2 per cent) and information and communication (0.2 per cent).
Compared with August 2019, activity is still lower in transportation and storage (41.7 per cent), accommodation and food service activities (40.7 per cent), other service activities (28.5 per cent), and administrative and support service activities (25.7 per cent).
Other sectors that were lower included professional, scientific and technical activities (3.6 per cent) and wholesale and retail trade (0.7 per cent). The only sector showing an increase since August 2019 was information and communication (2.4 per cent).
Comparing August with February, three sectors – professional, scientific and technical activities (1.5 per cent), information and communication (1.4 per cent) and wholesale and retail trade (0.1 per cent) – are up and have returned to pre-crisis levels.
The largest declines in activity recorded since February were in transportation and storage (43.8 per cent), accommodation and food service activities (38.6 per cent) and other service activities (30.3 per cent).
