Irish services sector growth picks up in August

But new business expanded at its weakest pace since February 2014

Irish services sector growth picked up in August

Growth in the Irish services sector picked up in August from the two-year low it hit after Britain's vote to leave the EU, a new survey shows, but new business fell to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years.

The Investec and Market Economics purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the services sector, which covers businesses from banks to restaurants, rose to 59.7 in August from 59.5 in July. While it remained well above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction, it was down from the 62.1 recorded in the same month last year and from the 61.2 seen in June, beforethe UK referendum on leaving the European Union.