MANUFACTURING:IRELAND'S MANUFACTURING output continued to rise in August, but the rate of growth was slower than in previous months, a new survey has shown.

The NCB Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) remained above 50 but fell back from 51.4 to 51.1 last month. Any figure above 50 mark separates growth from contraction.

Employment continues to be the main drag on the headline index. The employment component contracted further, posting 47.0 after 48.8 in July.

The rate of job shedding was the steepest in this sequence, having briefly pierced the 50 mark in May.

Respondents indicated that job cuts reflected a combination of non-replacement of staff who leave and attempts to reduce costs.

The output component of the index signalled expansion for the sixth month running, albeit at a weaker rate than in July.

New orders, which had slowed for the previous two months, expanded at an accelerated rate on the back of a continued marked performance of new export orders.

Panellists indicated that higher new export orders largely reflected strengthening global demand.