Irish Manufacturing Sector Sees Expansion in October

The manufacturing sector in Ireland received a bit of a boost in October, marking a slight expansion in October after contracting during the previous month. The AIB IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI rose to 50.7 in October from 48.7 in September, above the 50-threshold indicating expansion.

Customer demand picked up, boosting production in the Irish manufacturing sector. Eurozone’s fastest growing economy had previously remained immune to Brexit uncertainties, but rising chaos on the terms of Brexit drove down trade with Britain and impacted the manufacturing sector in Ireland recently.

According to AIB Chief Economist Oliver Mangan, “Brexit related effects remained very evident in the October data. Lower demand from the UK due to Brexit uncertainty was cited as a reason for the continued weakness of export orders.”

After three consecutive months of decline, manufacturing output also expanded with the sub-index soaring to 50.6 in October from 47.7 in the previous month. This marked the fastest pace of expansion in output seen since April this year. While new total orders grew slightly in October after five straight months of decline, export sales continued to contract on account of Brexit uncertainty.