The Irish services sector posted its 12th succesive month of growth in July, as the Investec Services PMI Ireland index experienced its sharpest rate of expansion since April 2007.

Respondents to the survey cited the recent heatwave as a factor behind the latest improvement. Indeed the travel, transport, tourism & leisure sub-sector experienced its fastest increase in activity since June 2011, contrasting with the experiences of the TMT sector, which experienced a slowdown in growth, and financial services, which contracted.

Also advancing were the new business component, which rose at its fastest pace since March 2007, while new export business expanded for a 24th successive month.

A key positive within today’s release is the employment component. The rate of increase in job creation was the highest seen since December 2006, while unadjusted data suggest a broad-based improvement, with the employment reading for all four sub-sectors above the 50 ‘no-change’ level for a fourth successive month.

Looking ahead, respondents pointed to an optimistic outlook, and Investec said it would expect to see further encouraging services PMI readings throughout the remainder of this year and beyond.