DUBLIN, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Ireland's service sector growth rate for March slowed down to a four-month low due to a powerful snowstorm that hit the country earlier last month, according to a report released here on Thursday.
The Investec Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) Ireland, a widely used indicator for measuring the Irish service activities, slipped from 57.2 in February to 56.5 in March, the lowest growth rate recorded for the country's service sector in the last four months, said Investec Ireland, a specialist bank, in its monthly report.
The slowdown in the growth rate of the country's service sector was partially due to the disruptions caused by a week-long snowstorm that hit the country at the start of March, it said.
Last month, a massive snowstorm swept across Ireland, resulting in days of closures of roads and airports as well as many businesses in the country. Massive power cuts were also reported in some parts of Ireland.
The snowstorm, reportedly the worst of its kind in 36 years, left a severe impact on the Irish economy including its service sector.
Earlier on Tuesday, the statistics released by Investec Ireland showed that the country's manufacturing sector had also been hit hard by the snowstorm with its PMI dropped to a 12-month low to land at 54.1 in March.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that it would take months for the government to give an accurate assessment of the losses and damages that the snowstorm had inflicted upon the country's economy.
However, Philip O'Sullivan, chief economist of Investec Ireland, said that the impact of the snowstorm is an unexpected factor which should not be read into too much.
He said most of the purchasing executives from nearly 450 private services providers they had interviewed said they were optimistic about their businesses in the coming 12 months as they saw increases in new business orders, especially new export orders.
"Given the favorable economic backdrop we would expect to see a pick-up in activity as the year progresses," he said.