Archive for February 2025

New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that electric vehicle (EV) sales had a record-breaking month in January. SIMI said a total of 4,925 EVs were registered in January, a 20% increase when compared to the 4,093 EVs registered the same month last year. Today’s SIMI figures also show that new…

An Post has announced that the price of a stamp will increase by 25 cent to €1.65 later this month. It said the rise takes account of wage increases for postal staff, increased operating costs, and a continuing fall in the volume of letters being posted. Letter volumes have fallen by 8% in the last…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…