Archive for February 2020

Consumer sentiment hit a six-month high in January, buoyed by the reduced risk of a disorderly British exit from the European Union. But sentiment was still sharply lower in January than it was a year ago. Ireland has remained the European Union’s fastest growing economy during three years of Brexit talks, but consumer confidence faltered…

The US trade deficit fell last year to $616.8 billion, the first time the gap has narrowed since 2013 as imports, particularly from China, declined more than exports, according to government data released today.  As President Donald Trump’s trade confrontations escalated in 2019, the total trade gap shrunk by nearly $10 billion as exports fell…

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…

Euro 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…

New 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…

The 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…

Lending 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…

Manufacturing 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…

The 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,…

Household 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…