DUBLIN, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Irish services sector continued to grow in September with the Investec Services Purchasing Managers's Index (PMI) reaching 58.7 in the month, the highest in three months, according to the statistics released on Wednesday.

The September Services PMI figure represented a 0.7-percentage-point increase over the previous month's figure of 58, said Investec Ireland which compiled the index.

It also extended the sequence of unbroken growth for the sector to 74 months, said Investec Ireland, a specialist bank providing financial products and services to clients both inside and outside Ireland.

In September, Irish services providers had raised their staffing level due to increases in new orders, especially new orders from overseas, said Philip O'Sullivan, an economist with Investec Ireland.

Britain was a particular source of strength for the growth in new overseas orders in the month, he said.

The September employment growth rate of the services sector was the fastest in the year to date, he said, adding that it reflected the sector's optimism about the outlook.

The rate of increase in input prices for September moderated to a four-month low with the main inflationary pressures coming from higher salaries and fuel costs, said O'Sullivan.

As has been the case for the past four and a half years, service providers were able to defray some of these pressures by hiking output prices once again, he said.