The manufacturing sector expanded in January for the seventeenth month in succession. NCB's purchasing managers' index recorded a figure of 52.9, broadly unchanged from the 53.1 recorded in December.

"A number of components suggest a more vigorous underlying picture," said NCB chief economist Mr Dermot O'Brien. "Growth in output and new orders speeded up in January, with export orders accelerating sharply."

Any figure above 50 indicates growth, while a figure below 50 shows contraction in the sector.

The volume of new orders increased even more strongly than in December, measuring 54.4 against 53.9 the previous month. The survey data showed that new export orders rose for the third successive month - and at the sharpest pace since last August.

Staffing levels rose for the twelfth month in a row at 52.6, the sharpest rate in six months. Anecdotal evidence from respondents showed that recruitment was driven both by rising volumes of new business and the anticipation of further growth in demand through the year.

Mr O'Brien said the figure for employment in the sector was "close to the best seen in the last four years".

Rising raw material prices kept input prices high though falling inflation lowered the figure for this component to 61.0 from 66.5 in December.

Manufacturing industry in the euro zone and Japan expanded more quickly in January, although the sector slowed in the US.