(Alliance News) - The Irish service sector continued to expand in December, according to survey data from Allied Irish Banks on Thursday.

The AIB Ireland services purchasing managers' index posted 53.2 points in December, falling from 54.2 points in November.

Coming in above the 50-point no-change mark, it shows the Irish service sector expanded in December, albeit at a slower pace than the previous month.

AIB said the pace of growth has slowed seven times in the past eight months, with December's reading the second lowest in 2023.

Ireland's services sector has remained in expansion since March 2021.

AIB Chief Economist Oliver Mangan said: "Irish firms continued to report rising levels of new business, but the pace of growth slowed in December to the second weakest in 2023. Similarly, while the volume of outstanding work continued to rise, it was at one of the slowest rates in the past three years. One bright spot was new exports orders which hit their highest level since August, with the UK mentioned as a source of growth."

The AIB Ireland composite PMI - a weighted average of the Ireland's manufacturing and services PMIs - fell to 51.5 in December from 52.3 in November.

By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.