Irish services sector growth slows in April, PMI shows

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Activity in Irish services expanded in April despite a slowdown in new business and job creation in the Technology, Media & Telecoms sector, a survey showed on Friday.

The AIB S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was 53.3 in April, down from 56.6 in March, which is the slowest rate of growth since January.

The index has not dipped below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for three years and two months.

AIB's Chief Economist David McNamara said that while Irish firms continued to report rising levels of new business, there was a notable decline in new and outstanding business in the TMT sector, which dragged the TMT business activity index to its weakest rate of growth in more than three years.

"Employment continued to rise in the services sector overall and across all four sectors, but the pace of job creation decelerated in April, particularly in the TMT sector," he said.

The other sectors covered by the survey are Financial Services, Business Services and Transport, Tourism & Leisure.

Financial Services posted the fastest growth of the four sectors surveyed for the fifth month running.

(Reporting by Graham Fahy; Editing by Toby Chopra)