The level of activity in the construction sector fell to its lowest point for five months in February as interest in new business dried up.

The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers' Index, which measures changes in overall construction activity, fell to 45.8 in February from 46.4 in January.

The falloff comes after indications at the end of last year that the industry might have been stabilising when the index reached 49.9. Index readings over the threshold of 50 signal growth in the sector with figures under 50 showing contraction.

Ulster Bank said the February survey showed that the pace of decline in construction activity accelerated further as the index fell to its lowest level since last October.

Civil engineering remained the most depressed of the three sectors examined by the index, falling from 37.7 in January to 35.6 last month.

Housing activity fell sharply last month from 47.2 to 42.4 and commercial activity, having shown signs of growth in January, fell by 2.2 points to 49.1.

New orders decreased for the second consecutive month and the fastest pace since last June which Ulster Bank said indicated that there was not much prospect of the overall sector returning to sustained expansion in the next few months.

Higher commodity and fuel prices brought about a further increase in input costs as inflation quickened for the second month running.

Employment in the sector declined again and remains "very thin on the ground" but the level of job losses in construction slowed to the lowest rate for more than four and a half years.