The level of growth in Ireland's construction sector slowed down in April, this was the second month in a row of slowing expansion.
The level of activity in the sector retreated to its lowest level since November of last year according to the sector's Purchasing Managers' Index for the sector, which is compiled by Ulster Bank.
It fell from 62.3 in March to 56.4 in April. Any reading above 50 signals growth.
Activity slowed across each of the sectors three categories - housing, commercial and civil engineering.
However, the rate of job creation in the industry remained steady, while companies reported that new contracts had led to the creation of new jobs.
Simon Barry, chief economist with Ulster Bank offered a positive assessment of the data:
"These declines need to be seen in the context of the exceptional strength recorded earlier in the year which saw the main PMI as well as the Housing sub-index establish new record highs in February.
"So while this slippage in momentum bears careful monitoring in the months ahead, it is important to note that these results are still very much consistent with a sector comfortably in expansion territory," he said.
