Dublin business activity accelerates in Q1 [Video]

Activity in Dublin’s private sector rose steadily during the first quarter of the year, accelerating from the end of 2023, the latest PMI survey from Dublin City Council and S&P Global has found.

The index’s headline rate rose from 51.9 in Q4 2023 to 53.1 in Q1, indicating a faster rate of growth but lower than the 55.5 reading in the same quarter last year.

Growth also increased in the rest of Ireland (51.1) albeit at a slower rate than in the capital.

On a sectoral basis, growth in Dublin business activity was driven by the services sector (54.1) while the construction industry also returned to growth, but manufacturing contracted marginally (49.9) after a strong end to 2023 (53.3).

Dublin businesses continued to expand their staffing levels in the first three months of the year, with the employment index up from 52.0 to 53.9 quarter-on-quarter.

Employment outside Dublin also increased solidly (52.8).

Following a contraction in …