DUBLIN, May 2 (Reuters) - Irish manufacturing activity
contracted further in April amid muted demand and faltering
confidence, although there was some relief for the sector with
input prices falling for the first time in almost three years, a
survey showed on Tuesday.
The AIB S&P Global manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index
(PMI) fell to 48.6 from 49.7 in March, holding below the 50 line
separating expansion from contraction for the second successive
month and the fourth time in the last six months.
Factory activity had expanded for two-and-a-half straight
years before that, and the recent deepening decline in output
and sustained falls in new orders have not been as sharp as they
have been in the euro zone as a whole.
A further easing of inflationary pressures, particularly in
the cost of raw material, pushed input prices down for the first
time since June 2020, with the subindex measuring costs falling
to 48.8. The input price subindex had rocketed up to a record
92.7 in March 2022.
Output prices continued to rise, but at a slighter slower
pace with the subindex at 53.2 last month.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Messaging: padraic.halpin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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