Quarter of employees expect to deal with work emails over Christmas – survey
More than a quarter of employees expect they will be responding to work emails over Christmas, according to a new survey. The Human Workplace Index from Workhuman found that 22% of employees say they will not be able to fully switch off from work over their Christmas holidays, while 28% admitted that their large workload […]
Central Bank predicts economy will shrink this year
The Central Bank has become the latest economic forecaster to predict that the economy will shrink this year. Its latest Quarterly Bulletin also shows that lower income families have seen their real incomes decline over the past two years due to inflation while higher income groups have seen a faster recovery. Multinational companies exporting pharmaceutical […]
Build costs up by almost 25% since 2019 – BPFI
Construction costs here have gone up by almost a quarter in the last four years, an analysis by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland has concluded. In its latest Housing Market Monitor, the BPFI said construction price inflation of 23% between the end of 2019 and the third quarter of this year compares to inflation […]
ECB raises capital demands for 20 banks over bad loans
The European Central Bank said today it had raised capital requirements for 20 banks after judging they had not set aside enough cash to cover for loans that had gone unpaid, a key concern for supervisors at a time of high borrowing costs. The move was part of the ECB’s push, set to continue next […]
Euro zone likely in recession, PMI surveys show
The downturn in euro zone business activity surprisingly deepened in December, according to closely watched surveys which indicated the bloc’s economy is almost certainly in recession. It was a broad-based decline with activity deteriorating in both Germany and France and across services and manufacturing, the surveys showed. Last quarter, the euro zone economy contracted 0.1%, […]
Prices at the pump down again in December – AA Ireland
The AA Ireland’s latest monthly fuel price survey has shown another drop in petrol and diesel prices over the last month. Petrol is down from €1.80 a litre in November to €1.72, while diesel has fallen from €1.81 to €1.72. December marked the third month in a row that prices have dropped at the pumps. […]
Air passenger numbers in third quarter up 13% compared to last year
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that almost 1.4 million more passengers used Irish airports in the third quarter of this year compared to the same time last year. The CSO said the number of passengers travelling to and from Ireland in the third quarter rose by 2% when compared with the third […]
Short term mortgage arrears up 3% in third quarter
The number of mortgages on private homes that were in short term arrears of less than 90 days rose 3% between July and September compared to the previous quarter. But new Central Bank data today also shows that the number of mortgages in arrears over 90 days was unchanged compared to the April to June […]
Housing commencements up almost 30% in past year
Work began on 3,087 new homes across the State last month, according to commencement notices registered with the authorities. That’s up 18% on the 2,624 that were started in October of this year and a 29% boost on the number recorded in the same month of last year. 43% are homes in housing schemes, 45% […]
Inflation slows to 3.9% in November from 5.1% in October – CSO
The annual rate of inflation fell to 3.9% in November, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today. This marks the first time since September 2021 that the annual rate has been less than 5%. The inflation rate had stood at 5.1% in October. Energy prices were the biggest contributor to pushing inflation up […]
EU agrees plan to boost conditions for app based “gig” workers
The European Parliament and EU member states have struck a deal on rules to strengthen conditions for those working through apps, such as ride-hailing drivers. Under the new law, many platform workers in Europe could be reclassified as employees and therefore gain access to labour and social protection rights, the parliament said. At least 5.5 […]
ESRI further downgrades economic growth forecast
The Economic and Social Research Institute has further downgraded its forecast for growth in the economy this year. However, in its latest Quarterly Economic Commentary the think-tank says the underlying performance of the economy is stronger than the headline figures suggest. It has also questioned the assumptions underpinning the national spending rule. Meanwhile, later today […]
Fed flags end of rate hikes, sees lower borrowing costs in 2024
The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady today and signaled in new economic projections that the historic tightening of US monetary policy engineered over the last two years is at an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024. In a new policy statement, Fed officials took explicit account of the fact that […]
House price growth picks up to 2.3% in October – CSO
Residential property price growth picked up on a yearly basis for the second month in a row in October, Central Statistics Office figures showed today. Prices for residential property increased by 2.3% in October compared with a near three-year low of 1.1% two months earlier. Prices had risen by 1.4% in September. Property price growth […]
Interest rate on new mortgages dips in October – Central Bank
The average interest rate on new mortgages in Ireland eased very slightly in October, new data from the Central Bank shows. But at the same time the average interest rate offered on term deposit accounts rose to its highest level in 14 years. At the end of the month, the average rate on new mortgages […]
Average motor insurance premiums fell 7% last year despite rise in cost of damage claims
The average cost of a private motor insurance policy fell by 7% last year to €568, new data from the Central Bank has found. That is despite a 20% rise in the cost of an average damage claim during the year, amid the inflationary environment. It means that on average, damage claim costs have risen […]
Talks on fish quotas resume in Brussels
Talks between EU fisheries ministers to finalise quota arrangements for national fishing fleets for 2024 have resumed in Brussels Talks were suspended last night with firm proposals for most stocks but no political sign off. Irish sources report both positive and negative decisions on some of the stocks important to Ireland’s fishers, and also some […]
Grocery price inflation falls again to 8.6%
Grocery sales are expected to exceed €1.4 billion for the first time ever in December, according to the latest predictions from Kantar. New figures from Kantar today show that take-home grocery sales increased by 7.2% in the four weeks to November 26. Kantar noted that shoppers visited stores more often in November, making an average […]