Northern Ireland’s private sector continued to grow in the third quarter of this year, an Ulster Bank survey has suggested.
Every month the bank surveys a representative sample of about 200 firms in the four main parts of the private sector.
September’s survey suggested the service sector continued to be the engine of growth and that manufacturing may be recovering after a difficult period.
Official figures published last month suggest the Northern Ireland economy grew by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2024.
That followed growth of 1.4% in the first quarter of the year.
Sebastian Burnside, chief economist at Ulster Bank owner NatWest, said that in the third quarter Northern Ireland was the best performing UK region – “an impressive feat for an economy that this time last year was struggling deep in contraction territory”.
He added that behind the generally positive story across the private sector, “evidence of a two-speed economy has emerged – growth continued to be driven by manufacturing and services, while the picture was much more muted in construction and retail”.
Northern Ireland’s latest official job market statistics are due to be published next week.
A relatively strong job market has been a recent feature of the Northern Ireland economy with unemployment at a record low.