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Northern Ireland's services sector returned to growth in the third quarter of this year, official figures suggest.

Output was up by 1.5% compared to the second quarter and was 3.5% higher compared to the same period in 2022.

Services is the dominant part of the local economy, covering a broad swathe of activity including retail, hospitality and business services.

Services output is now at a record high and 8% above its pre-pandemic level.

The figures, from the statistics agency Nisra, showed a strong performance in the business services and finance sector which grew by 4% over the quarter and 11% over the year.

That sector includes things like law, accountancy and management consulting; the strong performance may reflect the work that Northern Ireland-based staff do for UK and international customers.

Manufacturing output decline

All the broad services sectors showed quarterly growth apart from retail sales which were down by 0.9%.

Retail sales are also still 5% below pre-pandemic levels which likely reflects a move towards more online shopping and the inflationary squeeze on household budgets.

Meanwhile, output in the manufacturing sector fell by 2.7% over the quarter and 3.6% over the year.

The figures suggest manufacturing output has been declining since the end of last year though with significant differences between sectors.

For example, the pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector has continued a post-pandemic decline while the transport equipment and machinery sectors had a good performance in the first three quarters of this year.