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The country’s services sector grew at the fastest pace in seven months in January, a new survey today showed. This was the second survey this week to suggest the euro zone’s fastest-growing economy made a strong start to the year. A slowdown in manufacturing activity in Ireland threatened to spread to the services sector as […]
Read MoreEuro zone factory activity contracted again in January but did so at its shallowest rate since mid-2019, according to a survey which suggested the worst may be over for the bloc’s battered manufacturing industry. IHS Markit’s final manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to a nine-month high of 47.9 in January. This was just above a […]
Read MoreNew research reveals that Irish businesses are experiencing the worst talent shortage since 2006, with three-quarters unable to fill vacant roles. The latest survey by the Manpower Group says the skills gap increased more than five times over the past decade, jumping from 5 per cent in 2009 to 27 per cent now. The survey […]
Read MoreThe unemployment rate rose slightly in January, according to the Central Statistics Office, but continues to fall on an annual basis. The seasonally-adjusted rate stood at 4.8% last month – up 0.1 percentage points compared to December. However it is 0.3 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in January 2019. Last month the seasonally-adjusted […]
Read MoreLending to households grew for the third year in row last year, mainly on the back of growth in home mortgages, new figures from the Central Bank show today. The Central Bank said that household lending rose by 2.1%, or by €1.9 billion, in 2019. The annual growth rate in lending to buy a home […]
Read MoreManufacturing activity grew for just the second time in eight months in January amid greater certainty around Brexit and signs that a slowdown in euro zone economic activity may be bottoming out. Six years of unbroken manufacturing growth came to an end in June as a slowdown in global trade and uncertainty over Britain’s departure […]
Read MoreThe European Union’s banking watchdog has launched its toughest stress test of lenders to check on their resilience to very low interest rates, trade tensions and Britain failing to get an EU trade deal after Brexit. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said its fifth test since the aftermath of the financial crisis a decade ago, […]
Read MoreHousehold wealth has recovered by over 80% since 2013, mainly due to the recovery in the property market. The finding is contained in the Household Finance and Consumption Survey published by the Central Statistics Office today. The survey also finds a wide disparity in wealth between the top 10% and bottom 10% of households. There are 1.8 […]
Read MoreEuro zone economic growth was slower than expected in the last three months of 2019, a first estimate showed today. Meanwhile, inflation in January picked up in line with expectations thanks to a jump in prices of food, alcohol and tobacco and energy. The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said gross domestic product in the […]
Read MoreNearly 140 governments have agreed to launch a rewrite of decades-old cross-border tax rules for the digital age over the coming months, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation said after talks this week in Paris. The rise of Amazon, Facebook and Google has strained existing rules to breaking point because big tech companies can book profits in […]
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