Northern Ireland’s economy had a stronger start to the year than previously reported, with manufacturing and services from the NI Statistics and Research Agency (www.nisra.gov) showing healthy growth rates for the second quarter of 2018 (and some first-quarter figures revised upwards).

Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector grew for the third straight quarter, with output accelerating from 0.6% to 0.9% in the second quarter of 2018. The 0.6% growth represents a revision of the original 0.2% fall reported for Q1 earlier this year.

Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey said: “This growth only brings output marginally above the Q2 2017 figure. The closure of the JTI tobacco plant in Ballymena had a huge impact on Northern Ireland’s industrial/manufacturing output.”

On a more positive note, manufacturing saw record highs in a number of sub-sectors. Basic and fabricated metal products did particularly well, increasing by 7.3% over the quarter, posting an annual rise of 12.5%.

Engineering activity fell back from recent highs, but the machinery and equipment sector hit a 10-year high during the second quarter.