The number of new jobs being created in the South West is at its strongest level for almost a year, company bosses have said.

A survey of firms across the region showed there had been a marked increase in business during March, with the private sector economy growing markedly from the previous month.

There was also a rise in backlogs of work, resulting in an increase in staffing levels across the region.

"The rate of growth in the private sector accelerated since February, but remained below January's 41-month high," the report, by the South West Observatory, said.

"Both manufacturers and service providers continued to report growth in new orders with the faster rate of expansion seen in the manufacturing sector.

"March data signalled a mild rise in outstanding business, ending a three-and-a-half year sequence of decline.

"This, and sustained new order growth reported by manufacturers, led them to raise staffing levels substantially during March.

"In contrast, service companies continue to cut jobs. Despite this, the overall rate of job creation was the strongest in 11 months."

However, a rise in input costs - for commodities such as energy and fuel - is having an increasing impact right across the region.

"The rise in input costs led firms to increase their charges for a fifth successive month, with higher prices for fuel, energy, transport and raw materials," the report added.

"However, the extent to which input prices rose was below the two-and-a-half year high indicated in January, but remained well above the long-run trend."

The survey showed almost 87 per cent of firms in the region said their level of business activity was the same or higher than in February, compared to 83.5 per cent in February.

Eighty-nine per cent of companies were employing the same number or more people than the previous month while 96 per cent said their input costs were higher than the previous month.

National figures showed the in the three months to the end of March, output rose in 11 of the 12 regions across the country, with the only exception being Northern Ireland. The South West had the second highest increase in the UK.

Employment levels also rose at the same 11 out of 12 regions over the same period, with the South West again higher than the UK average.

Source- source South West Business