Live Updates > Live Update Details
2026-04-07 08:04:30
[Ireland Services PMI: March growth slows to seven-month low as cost pressures intensify] (1) Data released on April 7 showed that Ireland's services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.7 in March from 51.8 in February, the lowest growth rate in seven months. The sector had remained above the 50-point threshold for more than five consecutive years. (2) New business growth slowed for the fourth consecutive month, while new export business remained largely flat after eight months of expansion. Input price inflation rose to its highest level in three years, driven by rising prices for fuel, energy, wages, pensions, raw materials, and professional services, and businesses also accelerated their own price increases. (3) The services sector saw its third round of job cuts in the past five years, ending six months of job growth, mainly due to high costs and intense competition making businesses unwilling to fill vacancies. Confidence in economic activity over the next 12 months fell to its lowest level since October 2020, with businesses citing high costs, economic uncertainty, and the Middle East war as the main reasons.
