The latest Ulster Bank NI PMI has been released.

For those who don’t know, the PMI is a monthly survey of carefully selected companies. It provides an advance indication of what is happening in the private sector economy by tracking variables such as output, new orders, employment and prices.

Here are the main points:

• The Northern Ireland private sector saw a general pick-up in growth momentum during November.
• Output, new orders and employment all rose at faster rates than in the previous month
• Backlogs of work increased for the first time since August
• The rate of cost inflation accelerated slightly and output prices increased fractionally
• The headline seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index rose to 52.6 in November from 51.8 in the previous month
• However, output in Northern Ireland continued to rise at a slower pace than the UK average
• Manufacturing production decreased for the first time in ten months
• Higher output was linked by respondents to new order growth, in turn supported by improved client confidence and advertising campaigns.
• New business increased at the fastest pace in three months.
• New export orders stagnated, meanwhile, amid reports that the strength of sterling had made new business from abroad harder to secure.
• Staffing levels rose at the fastest pace in 14 months during November amid higher output requirements.
• Three of the four monitored sectors posted increases in employment, the exception being manufacturing where job cuts were recorded for the third month running.

You can download the full Ulster Bank NI PMI report and slidepack here.