Exports subdued but Irish manufacturing recruitment is on the rise
AIB Purchasing Managers’ Index surveys purchasing managers working in factories who have a good perspective of the overall trading, order books, and costs of materials. iStock
Irish manufacturing is still facing facing tough challenges as exports remain subdued, but there are signs conditions are starting to ease with recruitment rising again in the month, the latest reading of the sector reveals.
The AIB Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, also showed conditions here are still better than the eurozone and in Britain where manufacturing activity continued to contract last month.
The index is based on questions put each month to purchasing managers working in factories who have a good perspective of the overall trading, order books, and costs of materials. The Irish survey is watched closely because it includes a large number of multinationals who export large amounts of products to global markets.
At 50 in November, the latest reading, however, showed that manufacturing conditions didn’t improve nor worsen in the month.
“Very marginal increases in output and orders combined with a modest rise in employment were the key features of the November PMI data,” said AIB chief executive Oliver Mangan.
“Export orders, though, decreased again in November, with firms reporting continued subdued demand conditions in overseas markets. Meanwhile, employment rose modestly for a fifth consecutive month,” Mr Mangan said.
Economists from the OECD, EU, and the IMF have in recent weeks forecast that Ireland’s factories face a sharp slowdown in goods export orders this year, reflecting the slowdown in the economic growth after central banks started hiking interest rates.
