Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Most of the growth in the first quarter came from manufacturing and construction

The Northern Ireland economy grew by 1.1% in the first quarter of 2015, according to official figures.

These are the most up-to-date growth figures for the economy and are measured using the Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index (NICEI), which is roughly equivalent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In the same period in 2015, GDP in the UK as a whole grew by 0.4%.

Over the year, growth in Northern Ireland was 2.5%.

That was below the UK performance of 2.9%.

Most of the growth in the first quarter came from manufacturing and construction, with the service sector showing only a marginal improvement.

Weaker

The service sector index was up by 0.2%, production and manufacturing was up by 3.7%, and the construction sector was up by 7.8%

The public sector showed reduced output along with a slight fall in the number of public sector jobs.

The overall index is now 3.6% above the low point reached in the third quarter of 2012.

But the recovery in the Northern Ireland economy has been much slower and weaker compared to the UK as a whole.

Many economists expect economic growth in Northern Ireland to slow in the medium term as the private sector attempts to take up the slack created by lower government spending.