Ireland manufacturing expands at record pace

Ireland’s manufacturing sector expanded at a record pace in the last month of 2017, according to statistics released on Tuesday. The Investec Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a widely used index for measuring the manufacturing activities in Ireland, stood at 59.1 in December, a record high since the index was introduced in 1998. The figure beat the previous record set in December 1999 and represented a one-percentage-point increase over November, said Philip O’Sullivan, chief economist with Investec, a leading specialist bank in Ireland, which compiles the index.