(Alliance News) - Ireland's construction sector in November experienced its most pronounced decline since June, purchasing managers' index survey results published by S&P Global showed on Monday.

The headline seasonally adjusted BNP Paribas real estate construction total activity index fell to 47.5 in November from 49.4 in October. Falling further from the neutral 50-point mark separating growth from contraction, it indicates the pace of decline accelerated in November.

It was the sharpest decline since June, as Irish companies indicated that projects had been completed, with insufficient new business to fully compensate, S&P said.

"Bucking the wider trend, housing activity increased for the third consecutive month in November. That said, the pace of expansion was only slight and much weaker than that seen in October. Meanwhile, commercial activity continued to fall solidly," S&P highlighted.

Despite this, the pace in housing activity growth slowed, with the housing sub-index slipping to 50.3 points in November from 56.4 in October.

Further, new orders returned to growth in November, after a fall in October. New business has now climbed in eight of the past nine months.

The commercial activity index edged up to 47.2 points in November from 47.0 in October, while the index for employment improved to 52.2 points from 51.8.

"Residential construction is bucking the overall trend, and activity has been expanding almost continuously since March. This dovetails with recent commencements data and suggests that 2025 will be significantly better than this year for housing delivery," said John McCartney, director & head of research at BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland.

The construction PMI is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 150 construction companies in Ireland. The responses were collected between November 12 and 28.

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

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