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Ireland's service sector continues sharp rise

Xinhua, February 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Irish service sector continued to record sharp growth in business activity this month, according to latest data released Wednesday.

The February Irish services purchasing managers' index (PMI), compiled by Investec, showed the sector expanded at near its fastest pace in eight years in January, although the rapid growth in new orders slowed somewhat.

The index came in at 62.5, which is little changed from the 62.6 reading that was posted in January, according to Investec.

The January reading was the highest reading since February 2007 and the sector has expanded for 30 months in a row.

Investec is a leading international, specialist-banking group with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Investec's monthly Services PMI covers all private sector services in Ireland, excluding retail and wholesale, and provides timely data on an area of the economy that is not well covered by official figures. The data are derived from questionnaires sent to a representative panel of around 450 Irish private-sector service companies.

Investec Ireland chief economist Philip O' Sullivan said the latest index reveals another sharp rise in business activity in February.

He said that improving client confidence led to the latest increase in new orders, thereby feeding through to growth in activity.

The latest index also showed continued strong growth in demand from both home and abroad, he added. Endit