Archive for August 2022

Lidl Ireland has removed its mandatory retirement age clause for current and new employees from today. This means the company will give all employees the option to continue working beyond the age of 65. The retailer said its decision will allow the company to attract more “mature” and “life-experienced” talent, as well as offering more…

Growth in the country’s services sector picked up in July, amid a sharp uplift in new work. The AIB Services PMI rose to 56.3 last month, from 55.6 in June, though this was still below the May reading of 60.2. Readings above 50 indicate overall growth in activity. By comparison, the flash July Services PMI…

Consumers in the euro zone are bracing for the economy to shrink and for high inflation to continue eating into their income in the next year, a European Central Bank survey shows. The Consumer Expectations Survey is used by policymakers for input in their deliberations and was published today for the first time. It showed…

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for taxation on windfall profits of oil and gas companies to ease the impact of the global energy crisis on the most vulnerable people. “It is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the back of the poorest people and…

OPEC+ might have to raise oil production to avoid market overheating, OPEC+ member Kazakhstan said, as the group of oil producers meets amid US pressure to add barrels to the market while most members have already exhausted their output potential. “We have always said that the preferred price corridor is $60-80 per barrel. Today the…

Bank of Ireland has reported an underlying profit before tax of €419 million for the first six months of 2022. It was down on the €465 million reported at the same time last year. Net profit of €279 million was down from €341 million for the same period last year. The bank recorded an impairment…

A new minimum pay rate of €12.50 per hour is to be introduced for workers in the security industry. The new pay scale is scheduled to come into effect on August 29th and will be followed by another increase to €12.90 per hour from February 1st next year. The minimum rate of pay has been…

Rising inflation is continuing to hit Ireland’s manufacturing sector, according to a new survey. The AIB manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ index shows that output dropped for the second month running in July. It states that demand conditions had weakened both domestically and abroad, in part due to rising costs. “Inflationary pressures remain pronounced, with prices rising…

Half of Irish shoppers are overspending, shopping more frequently or buying what they don’t need – just to qualify for supermarket money-off vouchers. That’s according to a new study by Coyne Research, commissioned on behalf of Aldi Ireland. It found that consumers spent on average €9 extra, with three in ten claiming the additional spend…

Australia’s central bank has today raised interest rates for a fourth month in a row, but tempered guidance on further hikes as it forecast faster inflation but also a slowdown in the economy. Wrapping up its August policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifted its cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.85%.…