Ireland's manufacturing sector contracted in March at its fastest rate since July 2003 as output, and new orders started to decline again, a survey showed today.
The seasonally adjusted NCB Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which measures activity in manufacturing, fell to 46.0 in March from 49.8 in February, with all component indexes of PMI pointing to worsening conditions.
It was the fourth month in a row that the headline PMI reading has been below the 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction after over four years of uninterrupted expansion.
The output component of the index, which in February had indicated a return to growth at 50.8, fell back into contraction at 46.1 in March.
The measures of new orders, export orders, backlogs of work and employment hit multi-year lows, while finished goods inventories were seen rising at the sharpest pace since June 2001.
"Not encouraging numbers and possibly indicative of slowing activity in Europe," said Eunan King, senior economist at NCB Stockbrokers.
"The shortage of new business reported by firms contributed to a sharp contraction of manufacturers' backlogs of work," said NTC Economics, which compiles the survey.
