In October, it was reported that there was a rise in overall employment, however, in construction staffing levels were reduced, the only sector to suffer a decline.

It was also found that while manufacturing and services experienced an accelerated growth of output, construction firms posted the fastest fall in activity since November 2012.

The Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI is produced by Markit Economics and uses survey data from the manufacturing, service, construction and retail/wholesale sectors in Northern Island.

All four monitored sectors reported a sharp rise in costs, in particular manufacturing, which posted the fastest rise in inflation since July 2008.

There was also a sharp reduction in backlogs in the construction sector – the fastest rate of decline since March 2013.

The report found that: “The weak trend in total new orders was recorded, despite a near-record increase in new export orders, which surged on the back of the weakness of sterling against the euro.

“Overall new business increased in the retail sector, but declined elsewhere, most notably in construction.”