NI's private sector continues to grow strongly

Northern Ireland’s private sector continued to grow strongly in August, Ulster Bank’s monthly survey suggests.

The survey covers a representative sample of around 200 firms in the four main parts of the private sector.

Meanwhile official data suggests the NI jobs market remains strong by historic standards, though there may be some signs of softening.

The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) suggests the number of jobs in the economy rose to a record high of 826,130 in June.

The QES surveys about 6,000 companies, covering all employers with 25 or more employees and all public sector employers.

There was an increase of 1,950 jobs (+0.2%) over the second quarter and an increase of 10,080 jobs (+1.2%) over the year.

The growth was driven by the services and construction sectors.

Meanwhile HMRC’s estimate of the number of people on company payrolls in August showed a small decline, but remained close to a record high.

The Ulster Bank survey points to the beginning of a recovery in manufacturing which has had a difficult couple of years.

Sebastian Burnside, chief economist at Ulster Bank’s owner NatWest, said: ‘The Northern Ireland manufacturing sector performed particularly strongly in August, posting sharper increases in production, new orders, employment and backlogs of work.

“One other thing to note was a first increase in new export orders in almost a year-and-a-half, in a sign that international sales are starting to join the party and provide a boost to overall growth.’'