Northern Ireland remained the UK’s stand-out economic performer in October, with private sector businesses posting the fastest increases in both output and employment, according to Ulster Bank’s latest growth tracker.

The index showed that new orders increased again, which has been the case in each month of 2024 so far, albeit the rate of expansion was the slowest since February.

Three of the four monitored sectors (manufacturing, construction and services) saw new business increases, with retail the only category to post a reduction.

But with the survey being conducted prior to the Budget in October, it will be next month before what impact, if any, the changes to taxation and spending will have had on local company confidence.

Companies in the north continued to expand their workforce numbers in October, extending the current sequence of job creation to 22 months, although the pace eased to a four-month low, and some firms indicated that recruiting staff had been challenging, given candidate shortages.

Sebastian Burnside, chief executive at Ulster Bank’s parent company NatWest, said: “After an impressive third quarter of the year, the Northern Ireland private sector started the final quarter in a similar vein, recording rapid growth of business activity on the back of solid increases in new orders.

“Employment rose solidly, despite ongoing reports from firms of difficulties recruiting staff amid a shortage of suitable candidates.

“Candidate shortages meant that wage pressures remained an issue for companies, but overall input costs increased at the slowest pace for 15 months.

“The good news on inflation was also seen with regards to selling prices, which increased at the softest pace since January.”

He added: “Despite the continued growth in the private sector, business sentiment dropped to the weakest in the year-to-date.

“It was positive to see all four categories recording increases in output, but retailers generally remained under pressure, posting reductions in new orders and employment and expressing pessimism for the outlook, not a great position to be in heading towards the all-important festive period.”