Growth in the service sector continued in August but the outlook weakened, new data shows.
The latest Purchasing Managers Index from AIB shows that growth in new business and employment accelerated, while outstanding work increased at the strongest rate in almost a year.
However, the 12 month outlook was the weakest since November 2022.
In terms of sectors, activity growth rebounded in Transport, Tourism & Leisure but slowed sharply in Financial Services.
When it comes to price pressures, input price inflation was little-changed on June and July, while prices charged by service providers rose at the slowest rate since April 2021.
Wages, fuel and utilities costs were cited as the main sources of higher costs by respondents.
The index increased slightly to 53.8 in August from 53.6 in July.
This signals a slight acceleration in the pace of growth in the sector but, remains below the long run average of the survey of 55.1.
The rate of growth in the Irish services sector remained faster than the Eurozone and UK flash PMIs, both at 53.3, but below the US Services PMI at 55.2.
Source: rte.ie