Author: splash

Exports slow by €1.2 billion in May – CSO

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish unadjusted exports of goods decreased by €1.2 billion to €16.7 billion in May compared to the same time last year. When seasonally adjusted, exports of goods fell by more than €400m in May from the previous month. Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products decreased by […]

Continue Reading

Petrol and diesel prices remain steady in July – AA

Fuel prices remained stable in July and are virtually unchanged compared to June, the latest AA fuel prices survey shows. The average petrol price is €1.65 in July, the same as in June, with the average price for diesel rising by a marginal two cents to hit €1.55. “Following the duty increases last month, we […]

Continue Reading

Job vacancies fall by 25% compared to last year – report

Job vacancies fell by 25% in the second quarter of the year, on an annual basis, according to the latest Jobs Index from hiring platform IrishJobs. The report finds that the fall is linked to the post-Covid hiring surge that occurred in 2022. On a quarterly basis job vacancies fell by 4% and are now […]

Continue Reading

Interest rates and inflation – the search for the ‘sweet spot’

On paper, the job of a Central Bank Governing Council sounds fairly straight forward. Maintain price stability and ensure the stability of the financial system. The guiding principle for the first is to keep the annual rate of consumer price increases to around 2%. Sounds achievable, but that is much easier said than done, as […]

Continue Reading

Irish GDP slowed by 2.8% in Q1, revised CSO figures show

The Irish economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contracted by 2.8% in the first three months of the year, updated data from the Central Statistics Office has found. Last month, early data from the CSO suggested that GDP between January and March had fallen by 4.6%. That, coupled with a downward revision to […]

Continue Reading

Exports to boost Irish economic growth – Accenture

A new survey published today shows that despite the global economic challenges, Ireland’s growth forecast has emerged strongly. The latest Accenture/S&P Global Ireland Business Outlook survey show a sustained sense of optimism among Irish private sector companies, buoyed by expected improvements in export performance. The survey reveals that receding energy and raw material price pressures […]

Continue Reading

Annual rate of inflation falls to 6.1% in June – CSO

The annual rate of inflation stood at 6.1% in June, down from 6.6% in the 12 months to the end of May, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show. However, the data also shows that consumer prices rose by 0.8% between May and June. Core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed foods, rose to […]

Continue Reading

Infrastructure deficit is leading to lost opportunities, Ibec warns

Ibec has warned that Ireland is currently losing out on business opportunities because of constraints in capacity in the economy, including around housing. The employers’ organisation claims the Government must focus on creating greater economic capacity in October’s budget, through both expanding infrastructure and boosting social investment. Launching Ibec’s pre-budget submission, Executive Director of Lobbying […]

Continue Reading

Ireland’s emissions down 1.9% but reduction targets missed

Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased in 2022 compared with the previous year, according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Total emissions were 1.9% lower due to decreases in the residential, agricultural and energy sectors. However, emissions from the transport sector increased by 6%. The EPA’s latest assessment of annual greenhouse gas […]

Continue Reading

Disadvantaged areas hit harder by unemployment during pandemic – ESRI

A new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found that people living in disadvantaged areas experienced greater disruption to their employment during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, entitled ‘Pandemic Unemployment and Social Disadvantage in Ireland’, was carried out in collaboration with Pobal. Pobal is an organisation that administers and manages Government […]

Continue Reading