The December AIB PMI® survey data signalled a further rise in service sector activity, extending the current growth sequence that began March 2021. Rates of expansion in total activity and new business both slowed on the month, resuming an easing trend evident across much of 2023. Looking ahead to 2024, however, confidence improved as firms expect interest rates to fall and geopolitical tensions to ease. Employment rose at the slowest rate in the near three-year period of job creation, while wages continued to underpin cost pressures which reached the highest in four months.