Growth in the manufacturing sector slowed in January, according to the latest NCB Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).

Although the manufacturing sector expanded for the 41st month in a row, the PMI signalled a slower rate of expansion than in December and one that was weaker than the average for the current growth period.

The index, which provides a measure of the economic health of the manufacturing industry, registered 52.3 in January compared with 53 in December.

Any reading above 50 indicates growth on the previous month.

"Manufacturing output continued to grow as it had done in the previous 40 months but the pace of growth is stable rather than accelerating," said Eunan King, senior economist at NCB Stockbrokers.

"While output is still expanding at a respectable pace, orders, especially export orders, are not very supportive. Moreover, backlogs continued to fall, while employment growth was only marginal in January.

"Output prices continued to grow and input prices reaccelerated, following a few months of more modest inflation."

The wider Eurozone PMI fell to 55.5, from 56.5 in December, but euro-zone manufacturers raised prices at their fastest pace in at least four years in January even as overall factory growth slowed to its weakest in 11 months. The UK PMI rose to 52.8 last month, up from 52.0 in December.