Growth in Ireland’s manufacturing sector has moderated to the slowest pace of growth in 21 months, new figures show.

According to Investec’s monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which is an indicator of the health of the manufacturing industry, the headline PMI reading for November at 53.3 was slightly lower than October’s 53.6, but is still positive, indicating growth within the manufacturing sector.

New orders increased for the twenty ninth successive month, while new export business also continued to grow sharply with the rate of expansion little-changed from that seen in October.

Philip O'Sullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland, said the uptick in the rate of growth in new export orders was pleasing, and says it may be attributed to new business wins from the UK – which is likely to have been helped by the sterling strength seen during the month.

The increase in new orders led manufacturers to expand their production in November

Mr O’Sullivan also noted that headcounts in the sector continue to grow at a “healthy clip”, as they have consistently done over the past two-and-a-half years.

Looking ahead, Mr O’Sulivan is sticking with the view that “manufacturing firms here remain positive on the outlook, but perhaps not as much as they were earlier in the year when the prospects for the global economy (and, within that, emerging markets in particular) seemed stronger”.