The East Antrim MLA stated: “This economic survey shows the real progress made in strengthening our economy; however we need to keep focused on the task of moving employment from a public sector emphasis to a private sector one.
“It is vitally important that we see a shift from public to private sector as regards employment figures, because the private sector is the real catalyst for economic success.
“It is also of paramount importance that that jobs we are creating are high value, to ensure that the skills of our workforce are used to their full potential.
“This Ulster Bank survey shows that we are moving in the right direction as regards growth; however, the Executive must not lose sight of the need to keep working towards creating more high value private sector jobs.”
ENDS