Archive for November 2019

New research shows that consumers here are using our phones less and less for phone calls and more for messaging and social media.  The research from communications regulator ComReg also finds that almost everyone in the country now has a phone – with Samsung and Apple the most popular brands.  Consumers are spending about a…

The European Central Bank has not reached the limit of what it can do on monetary policy, its chief economist Philip Lane has said. Despite unprecedented monetary easing, Professor Lane said the ECB still had further tools in its toolbox if needed, but added that they would depend on particular circumstances.  “Let me emphasise that…

Average weekly earnings were €740 in 2018, an increase of 3.4% on the previous year, according to new statistics released by the Central Statistics Office.  However, those on higher than average salaries can skew the numbers and the CSO pointed out that 63% of workers earn less than the average while 37% earn above the…

Euro zone’s headline inflation slowed in October, the European Union statistics office said today as it confirmed its earlier estimate, with energy prices falling markedly.  Eurostat also said the 19-country bloc posted in September a larger surplus in its trade with the rest of world, as exports grew more than imports.  Inflation was confirmed at…

The European Commission has approved the Government’s National Broadband Plan, saying it complies with EU state aid rules. The decision means one of the final hurdles preventing the State from signing the contract with the preferred bidder, National Broadband Ireland, has been overcome. The Commission said the €2.6bn of public support will result in high-speed…

World Trade Organization members have demanded compromises from the EU and Britain to ensure foreign businesses do not lose market access in post-Brexit trade.   At a meeting of the WTO’s Goods Council, 15 countries – including the US, India, Australia and Canada – raised concern over the so-called Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) that will…

A survey by the IE Domain Registry, which manages the dot-IE web address, h found that two thirds of SMEs do not have a digital presence. This means that much of the ever increasing amount of money spent online is going to multinationals like Amazon and ASOS. David Curtin, CEO of the IE Domain Registry,…

Dublin residential property prices fell for the third month in a row in the year to September, the latest Central Statistics Office figures show today. Dublin residential property prices decreased by 1.3% in the year to September, with house prices falling by 1.5% and apartments slowing by 0.2%.  The CSO noted that the highest house…

The euro zone economy continued to grow at a modest pace in the third quarter as expected, data from the EU statistics office showed today, as Germany narrowly escaped a technical recession and other big economies expanded.  Eurostat said gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro increased 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the third…

The UK economy grew at the slowest annual rate in nearly a decade in the three months to the end of September, as a global slowdown and Brexit worries hit business investment and manufacturing.  Year-on-year gross domestic product growth slowed to 1% from 1.3% in the second quarter, Britain’s Office for National Statistics said. This…