Ireland's manufacturing growth rebounds to 15-year high

Ireland's manufacturing sector rebounded in February to a 15-year high after a relatively weak performance in January, according to a survey published on Monday.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), compiled by financial group Investec, climbed to 57.5 in February from 55.1 a month earlier.

The index has been above the 50 mark denoting growth for most of the past two years.

The manufacturing PMI is designed to provide a single-figure measure of the health of the Irish manufacturing industry, and is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in around 285 industrial companies.

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

Investec Ireland chief economist Philip O'Sullivan described the manufacturing survey as "surprisingly good" considering uncertainty around Greece and Ukraine and UK's May general election.

"Today's report gives an indication of how resilient this growth is, but we would caution that any uncertainty ahead of the upcoming UK election is likely to put that to the test," O'Sullivan said. Endit