Ireland's services sector expanded at a modest pace in October, the 10th straight month of growth, as the reactivation of projects previously put on hold compensated for a fall in new business orders, a survey showed today.
Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index for Irish services firms rose to 51.5 from 51.4 in September, above the 50 mark that marks growth.
New orders at Irish companies, including IT and telecoms firms, decreased for a sixth successive month but new export orders rose, albeit at a slower pace than in September.
The sub-index measuring business confidence rose to 63.4 from 59.5 the previous month, the strongest since April reflecting hopes of an improvement in economic conditions and some signs of strengthening confidence among customers.
Separate PMI data on Tuesday showed the country's manufacturing sector picked up in October as new orders rose for the first time since May.
The Government needs medium-term growth to expand by around 3 per cent if it is to meet the targets set by its EU-IMF bailout, requiring domestic demand to stabilise and unemployment to fall from stubbornly high levels of around 14 per cent.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said the growth forecast for 2012 would be cut from the current 2.5 per cent. The Government is due to unveil today its adjustment plans for the next four years including its latest forecasts.
