The manufacturing sector continued to expand in October but at the least marked rate since March of this year, according to the NCB purchasing managers' index (PMI).

The index, which provides a monthly, seasonally-adjusted measure of the health of the sector, has registered a positive figure each month for the past 38 months. For October the index posted 53.2, with anything above 50 indicating growth. The figure for September was 54.2.

The index indicated growth in employment, new orders and output, as well as continuing growth in input and output prices. In relation to new business, many firms linked the increase to recent marketing initiatives. New business from abroad rose for the seventh consecutive month, with firms reporting an improvement in demand from European clients.

Output by Irish manufacturers was linked to new business orders as well as productivity improvements contributing to reductions in outstanding business. Employment increased marginally in October. The increase was the lowest in the current seven-month period of employment growth.

Increased production led to increased input buying, with a second consecutive month of increased stocks of purchased goods.

Input costs increased at a sharp pace with a number of firms suggesting that strength of demand for inputs led to higher prices.

The rate of output price inflation rose for the third month in a row in October, with firms saying they were responding to higher input costs.