The Irish services sector reported a 39th consecutive month of growth in the month of October.

According to the Investec Service Purchasing Mangers’ Index business sentiment remained positive in the month in the face of optimism grinding to its weakest since August 2014.

Around 59 per cent of panellist forecast an increase in activity over the next 12 months. Financial services was the only sector to register an improvement in confidence in the survey for October.

Backlogs of work in the sector have risen over the past 29 months while staffing levels were raised in October at the fastest rate in ten months.

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