Posts by sean

New labour market data from the Central Statistics Office indicates that unemployment has reached its highest point since 2021. The unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 65 rose to 5.3 percent in the third quarter of the year, compared with 4.5 percent in the same period of 2024. The figures show that 155,400 people…

The Department of Social Protection has issued a warning following reports that some employers are attempting to sidestep the new pension auto enrolment system by pressuring staff into joining less beneficial pension arrangements. The national auto enrolment scheme, known as My Future Fund, is due to begin on 1 January and is expected to bring…

A growing share of first time buyers are securing mortgages on their own, according to new data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). The organisation’s latest Mortgage Market Profile Report indicates that individual applicants made up 31 percent of first time buyer drawdowns in the year to June. The report highlights a strong…

The European Central Bank is widely expected to maintain interest rates at current levels until at least the end of 2026, according to a new Reuters survey of economists. The outlook reflects a steady economic environment across the euro zone, with inflation close to target, growth stable and unemployment at record lows despite uncertainty in…

A significant global outage at Cloudflare this week caused widespread disruption and highlighted the scale of reliance many organisations have on unseen digital infrastructure. While the company is not widely known outside the technology sector, its services underpin a large proportion of global internet traffic, meaning even a short disruption can have far reaching consequences.…

Recent inflation data from the Central Statistics Office shows that overall annual inflation has climbed to its highest level since March 2024, reaching 2.9 percent. One of the most noticeable increases is in the cost of food and non alcoholic beverages, which has risen by 4.5 percent over the past twelve months. With Christmas approaching,…

A new survey of economists suggests that the Bank of England is likely to reduce interest rates in December, followed by another cut early next year. This marks a shift from expectations only a month ago, when many analysts believed rates would remain unchanged for the rest of 2025. The December decision will come shortly…

New research suggests that Irish consumers continue to place significant trust in established websites when shopping online. The survey, carried out by Core Research on behalf of .ie, found that three in four people prefer to make purchases through traditional websites rather than social media platforms. Almost three in five respondents also said they were…

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that consumer price inflation in the UK eased to 3.6 percent in October, down from 3.8 percent in September. This marks the first decline since May and provides a modest boost for both the government and the Bank of England, which had anticipated a slowdown. The…

The Government has begun a public consultation inviting individuals, employers and interested organisations to share their views on how the right to request remote working is functioning in practice. The current framework, which took effect in March 2024, places a clear obligation on both employers and employees to follow a code of practice issued by…