News

Euro zone business activity held steady last month, a small improvement from September’s modest decline, supported by an expansion in the bloc’s dominant services industry that offset an ongoing – but stabilising – decline in manufacturing. HCOB’s composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for the currency union, compiled by S&P Global and seen as a good gauge […]

Over half of Irish businesses are now using electricity from renewable energy sources, new research has found. The survey also established that 90% of industry leaders would be willing to pay a higher price for certified renewable energy. A majority of the 100 participants said they had signed deals to buy renewable energy in order […]

There was a sustained uptick in activity in the services sector last month, the latest AIB Ireland Services Purchasing Managers Index shows. However, growth momentum eased from September’s six-month high, the data shows. Overall the index fell from 55.7 in September to 53.8 in October. “The rate of growth in the Irish services sector was […]

Strong demand for car loans propelled the value of personal loan drawdowns to the highest level recorded during the second quarter of the year. In total 60,674 loans worth a total of €641m were provided during the April to June period. That was up 7.6% in volume and 18.9% in value, when compared to the […]

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) received 5,276 reports last year, 721 of which were confirmed as cybersecurity incidents. This led to the opening of 309 investigations. The figures are contained in the National Cyber Security Annual Update 2023 which was published today. According to the report, the vast majority of incidents were categorised as […]

OPEC+ has agreed to delay a planned December oil output increase by one month, the group said, as weak demand notably from China and rising supply outside the group maintain downward pressure on the oil market. Eight members of OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies, were […]

New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations for October rose by 9.7% to 2,423 when compared to the figure of 2,208 the same month last year. Registrations so far this year are down 1.2% to 119,668 on the 121,134 cars registered the same time last year. […]

The Government has been told that National Broadband Ireland should seek to ramp up its capacity to meet the demand for new connections in anticipation of continued strong take-up. The recommendation is contained in an independent evaluation report of the National Broadband Plan which was prepared by EY Ireland. The study was based on extensive […]

Euro zone inflation accelerated more than expected in October and could still pick up further in the coming months, bolstering the case for caution in European Central Bank interest rate cuts as price growth is not yet fully tamed. Inflation in the 20 countries sharing the euro currency accelerated to 2% from 1.7% in September […]

Activity in the manufacturing sector improved in October, driven by a rise in output and new orders. The latest AIB Manufacturing PMI shows that business conditions improved at the fastest pace since February. The headline index increased to 51.5, from 49.4 in September. Readings above 50 indicate overall growth in activity. The Irish manufacturing PMI […]