Economic recovery in the north of Ireland "short-lived" - PMI

BizWorld:

Business activity in Northern Ireland rose only marginally in July, according to the latest PMI data.

The latest Ulster Bank Purchasing Managers Index report for Northern Ireland showed that business activity rose for the 28th consecutive month in July.

However, the rate of expansion eased from June to a marginal rate and the slowest of this period. In contrast, growth of business activity across the UK private sector as a whole picked up slightly to a strong pace.

Pat McArdle, Ulster Bank's chief economist, said the recovery signalled a month ago was short-lived as the July PMI registered the second-biggest fall in its history and is now indicating virtual zero growth in the private sector economy.

"This was the weakest performance since the Iraq war and it diverged sharply from the overall UK PMI which improved modestly."

"The pace of the fall in July was so rapid that we will await another month's data before jumping to conclusions. Prices charged by business providers are now clearly falling as firms struggle to win new orders whereas they are roughly unchanged in the UK."

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