Job losses have accelerated within the NI building trade for the fifth month in a row.

Overall, the local economy continued to suffer, but this was particularly true in the construction sector with the latest report on the economy from the Ulster Bank revealing that the downturn in the Northern Ireland private sector continued in September.

It said the NI economy is still in decline but there were some signs of recovery across the rest of the UK.

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It highlighted that construction firms are shedding jobs at the fastest rate since March last year.

Ulster Bank Chief Economist Richard Ramsey said that is likely to continue following next week's Comprehensive Spending Review, which is expected to reveal big cuts in areas such as roads, schools, and hospitals.

"The construction sector has already been badly hit by the downturn in the housing business," Mr Ramsey said.

"While spending on infrastructure had held up well until the beginning of this year, it has been declining since then, and next week we are likely to hear about major cutbacks in public sector investment.

"The Spending Review is likely to have a more negative impact on Northern Ireland than elsewhere," Mr Ramsey said.

(BMc)