Buoyant manufacturing firms return to growth, PMI shows
The manufacturing sector returned to growth in January thanks to fresh impetus in output and new orders, as confidence levels among firms remained close to December’s 15-month high, a survey shows today. AIB’s Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 last month from 49.1 in December, crossing the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for just […]
Fall in job vacancies but level of hybrid roles remains stable
There was a 9% quarterly decrease in the number of new job vacancies created on hiring platform IrishJobs in the fourth quarter of 2024. Manufacturing, IT, finance and science were among the sectors that posted vacancy decreases according to the latest Jobs Index from IrishJobs. The research shows that the level of hybrid working vacancies […]
Euro zone inflation edges up in January to 2.5%
Euro zone inflation ticked up slightly in January to 2.5%, edging higher for a fourth consecutive month driven by energy price increases, official data shows. Consumer prices were up from 2.4% in December 2024, slightly disappointing analysts’ expectations. Financial data firm FactSet had predicted the rate would not move. Inflation reached its lowest level in […]
Bank of Ireland increases growth forecast for domestic economy for 2025
Bank of Ireland has increased its growth forecast for the domestic economy for this year. It said modified domestic demand will expand by 4% compared to an earlier projection of 3%. It has forecast that employment will grow by 2.2% and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which includes multinational activity, will grow by 4.3% The bank […]
Euro zone economy stagnated in last quarter, foreshadowing weak 2025
The euro zone economy stagnated last quarter as worried consumers zipped up their purses, adding to fears that a long-predicted recovery could be further delayed, Eurostat data showed today. Gross domestic product in the 20 nations sharing the euro was unchanged compared with the previous quarter, falling short of expectations for a 0.1% expansion in […]
Gold hits record high on safe-haven demand amid tariff threats
Gold prices rose to hit a lifetime high today, sparked by safe-haven demand due to US tariff threats, while the focus was also on a crucial inflation report for clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy path. Spot gold was up 1.3% at $2,794.69 per ounce, as of 1752 GMT, hitting its record high level at […]
Over 80% of consumers targeted by scammers last year
Over 80% of Irish consumers were targeted by scammers last year, new data shows. The research carried out by international money app Wise, reveals that almost half of consumers were targeted in the last three months of 2024 alone. This comes as the Irish Government has proposed new legislation, recommending measures such as the publication […]
First-time buyer mortgage drawdowns hit highest level since 2007
Mortgage drawdowns by first-time buyers (FTB) hit the highest level since 2007 last year, new figures show. The data from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveals that over 26,000 mortgages were drawn down by this group in 2024, worth €7.8 billion. In total, 40,030 mortgages were drawn down last year, valued at almost €12.6 billion. […]
European Central Bank expected to cut interest rates by 0.25%
The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates by 0.25% when its governing council meets today. This will bring the main refinancing rate, which is used to price mortgages, from 3.15% to 2.9%. The bank has been steadily cutting rates as inflation has declined from its peak of 10.6% in 2022. If the […]
US tech stocks, dollar rebound after DeepSeek-triggered selloff
Technology stocks regained some ground today with chipmaker Nvidia up about 2.5% in early trading, a day after it suffered the biggest one-day market capitalisation loss in history, and traders moved back out of safe-haven currencies into the dollar. On Wall Street, the mood was calmer than it was on Monday, with the S&P 500 […]
Spain’s economy outperforms euro zone in 2024 with 3.2% growth
Spain’s economy expanded a stronger-than-expected 3.2% in 2024, by far outperforming its euro zone peers’ sputtering economies, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute showed today. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Monday the government would raise its forecast for this year above the 2.4% following the release of the annual data, which was buoyed […]
GDP falls by 1.3% in fourth quarter, CSO preliminary estimate shows
A preliminary estimate from the Central Statistics Office today shows that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from the previous three months, but was 6.3% higher than the same quarter the previous year. The Government has long cautioned against using GDP to accurately measure economic growth as it […]
Remote working job ads hit record high
The share of Irish job postings on hiring platform Indeed offering remote or hybrid work rose to a record high at the end of December 2024. Indeed’s Jobs & Hiring Trends Report found that 17.5% of posting mentioned remote or hybrid, a level that is more than four times that recorded prior to the Covid […]
Euro zone banks tighten companies’ access to credit, ECB survey shows
Euro zone banks tightened firms’ access to credit last quarter and expect further tightening in the first three months of 2025, a European Central Bank survey showed today, reinforcing the case for more interest rate cuts as the economy slows. Lending growth has been broadly stagnant for most of 2024 as the long-awaited economic recovery […]
Revenue says to work with businesses hit by storm Éowyn
Revenue’s Collector General says Revenue will work with businesses negatively impacted by storm Éowyn. Joe Howley said Revenue understands that many of those impacted are not in a position to file returns because they do not have power, or may be facing longer term problems if their businesses have been damaged. “We will be pragmatic […]
Widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in Irish businesses low – survey
Widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in Irish business remains low at just 6%, according to new research. PwC’s GenerativeAI (GenAI) Irish Business Leaders’ survey shows that 67% of respondents confirmed that they are either at the testing or partial implementation stages of AI adoption, up from 47% in June 2024. 86% of Irish business […]
Tech sector calls for Minister for Digital Delivery
Technology Ireland, the Ibec group representing the tech sector, has called for the appointment of a Minister of State for Digital Delivery. Based in the Department of an Taoiseach, the new role would have interdepartmental responsibility and would be tasked with overseeing digital policies and programmes. It is contained in Technology Ireland’s Policy Priorities Roadmap […]
Fraudulent payments rise by 26% in 2023 – Central Bank
New research from the Central Bank shows that the total value of fraudulent payments rose by 26% in 2023, increasing to €126m from €100m in 2022. But today’s research also reveals that the rate of fraud in Ireland as a share of all transactions is low – by value and by volume the rates are […]