Accelerating growth of activity and new business was sustained in November, prompting increased expansion of employment, according to the NCB Purchasing Managers' Services Index published this morning.
November 's seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index rose for the sixth successive month, posting its highest level since April 2002.
The latest data indicated that expansion of overall activity levels has been sustained since June, with the rate of growth accelerating sharply over the period.
The report contains the public release of data based on the NCB monthly survey of the Irish services economy,produced by NTC Research.
It covers all private sector services in Ireland, excluding retail and wholesale, and provides data on an area of the economy that is not well covered by official data.
The data is derived from questionnaires sent to a panel of 600 Irish private services companies that have agreed to supply regular information on trends in their activity levels.
The index also shows that the rate of expansion was the sharpest since April 2002, reflecting a similar growth trend for new business.
The rise in volumes of new business during November was also the sixth in succession, and the pace of expansion was the most significant since January 2001 - largely reflecting a recovery in client expenditure, the report says.
Growth of employment was recorded for the third successive month in the services indsutry in November, and the latest data from service providers indicate that this expansion was the sharpest to be recorded since April 2001.
Firms generally reporte that the latest rise in staffing levels ha been necessary to allow firms to cope with the significant gains in new business in recent months.