The Northern Ireland economy has been rocked by “severe price pressures” which have prompted a sharp contraction in activity, particularly in the manufacturing sector, according to the latest PMI report from Ulster Bank.
It said companies across the province and in all sectors reported a “significant loss of momentum” in June with demand deteriorating and local firms seeing the steepest declines in output and orders of all 12 UK regions.
The report put the weak performance down to the fastest ever rise in input costs, with companies having to cope with a jump in the price of energy, fuel, shipping and wages and subsequently having to push up their own selling prices.
