Irish manufacturing has reached a turning point on the road to recovery according to the latest survey which shows business conditions have improved marginally for the first time in a year in September.
The NCB Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - an indicator designed to measure the overall economic health of the manufacturing economy - rose to 50.4 in September, back above the critical 50 no-change mark, from 48.1 in August.
Mr Dermot O'Brien, chief economist at NCB stockbrokers, said that the September PMI measure "looks like a definite turning point."
Though the September reading indicates only modest growth, it is the first such indication in a year and the improvement on August was substantial, Mr O'Brien added.
"Four months of rising indices show the manufacturing recovery is becoming established" he said.
Underpinning the improvement in business conditions in September, was a rise in the volume of new orders which rose for the first time in twelve months. Furthermore, order book grew at the strongest rate since July 2002.
With increased volumes of new business, overall production levels were stepped up for the first time in nine months in September, and at the strongest rate for a year.
However increased workloads failed to translate into new jobs in September, as many firms reduced the size of their workforce in line with ongoing attempts to improve efficiency.
As a result, manufacturing employment fell for the thirteenth month running, although the rate of job shedding was only modest and unchanged from August.