Archive for March 2023

The annual rate of inflation went back up to 8% in February, compared to 7.5% in January, according to an initial estimate from the Central Statistics Office. Energy prices fell but food prices continued to climb higher last month. Today’s CSO figures show that Ireland has become the latest euro zone country to record a…

Global energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide hit a record high last year, although more clean technology such as solar power and electric vehicles helped limit the impact of increased coal and oil use, the International Energy Agency has said. Deep cuts in emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, will be needed over the coming years…

The country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in February from 4.4% the previous month, new Central Statistics Office figures show today. The jobless rate has remained between a 21-year low of 4.2% and 4.5% over the last 10 months amid a tight labour market. The unemployment rate of 4.3% in February was lower than the…

A charity has called on energy companies to pass on discounts to struggling families. On Monday, Electric Ireland said it was cutting its electricity tariffs for small and medium enterprises by an average of 10% from next month, while gas prices for these businesses are set to fall by an average of 15%. The vice-chair…

The annual James Dyson Award, an engineering competition focused on sustainability, is accepting submissions from young inventors from today. The award is aimed at undergraduates and recent graduates of engineering and challenges them to tackle a global problem, from environmental issues to improving healthcare practices. To date, the competition has awarded 390 inventions with prize…

Activity in the manufacturing sector improved in February amid a rise in new orders, according to the latest AIB Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). After a period of weak activity over the winter months, the PMI moved back into expansion mode. The index rose to 51.3 last month from 50.1 in January and 48.7 in both…

Almost €16 billion worth of mortgages were approved in the 12 months ending January 2023, according to new figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. This was the highest value of annualised approvals recorded since BPFI started collecting the data in 2011. In total, 58,000 mortgages were approved within those 12 months. In January 2023…

Euro zone inflation pressures have begun to ease, including for all-important core prices, but the European Central Bank will not end rate hikes until it is confident price growth is heading back towards 2%, ECB chief economist Philip Lane said. The ECB has raised rates by 3 percentage points since July. It plans another half…

Electric Ireland will reduce its electricity tariffs for small and medium enterprises in the Republic of Ireland by an average of 10% from next month. Gas prices for these businesses are set to fall by an average of 15%. However, the energy company said it is very difficult to project the trajectory of residential electricity…