“Manufacturing production increased at the third fastest pace in the history of the survey, which began in May 1998. According to respondents, higher output mainly reflected strong new order growth.
Total new business rose at the sharpest pace in more than eleven years in February. New export orders expanded at the second-steepest rate in the series history, with the EU and Asia highlighted as sources of growth.
The second consecutive accumulation of backlogs of work was solid, and the fastest in the history of the series, in line with strong new order growth.
Employment growth hit a four-and-a-half year high in February as firms raised staffing levels in response to higher workloads. Job creation has now been recorded in each of the past three months.
Input cost inflation accelerated for the second month running to the steepest since July 2008. Higher prices for raw materials was the main factor behind increased input costs, with fuel and steel mentioned in particular.
As input prices rose, Irish manufacturers increased their charges accordingly. Furthermore, the marked inflation of output prices was the sharpest in four years.
Purchasing activity increased at the fastest pace since December 1999 in February, in line with rising production requirements. Anecdotal evidence suggested that suppliers had struggled to cope with rising demand for inputs, resulting in delivery delays.
Lead times lengthened markedly again over the month.
Despite a near-record rise in purchasing, preproduction inventories decreased modestly as inputs were consumed by production. Stocks of finished goods also declined in February, albeit only marginally. Panellists reported that post-production inventories were utilised to partly satisfy the sharp rise in new orders."
Nothing to add to this – across the board, strong performance and most encouragingly, expansion in employment prospects is holding over time and even getting stronger.
Perhaps one suggestion going forward - can the folks from NCB get us a breakdown of MNCs led activities from domestic respondents going forward.
Now, updated charts:
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