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The Irish economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contracted by 2.8% in the first three months of the year, updated data from the Central Statistics Office has found. Last month, early data from the CSO suggested that GDP between January and March had fallen by 4.6%. That, coupled with a downward revision to…

The annual rate of inflation stood at 6.1% in June, down from 6.6% in the 12 months to the end of May, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show. However, the data also shows that consumer prices rose by 0.8% between May and June. Core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed foods, rose to…

A new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found that people living in disadvantaged areas experienced greater disruption to their employment during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, entitled ‘Pandemic Unemployment and Social Disadvantage in Ireland’, was carried out in collaboration with Pobal. Pobal is an organisation that administers and manages Government…

Ibec has warned that Ireland is currently losing out on business opportunities because of constraints in capacity in the economy, including around housing. The employers’ organisation claims the Government must focus on creating greater economic capacity in October’s budget, through both expanding infrastructure and boosting social investment. Launching Ibec’s pre-budget submission, Executive Director of Lobbying…

Asking prices for used cars are 79% higher than they were pre-pandemic, but the rate at which prices are rising is slowing. New figures from listings website DoneDeal show the annual rate of inflation slowed to 10.7% in the second quarter of this year. That is down from 26.6% the same time last year, and…

More than a quarter of jobs in the OECD rely on skills that could be easily automated in the coming artificial intelligence revolution, and workers fear they could lose their jobs to AI, the OECD said today. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a 38-member bloc, spanning mostly wealthy nations but also…

A new platform aimed at addressing skills gaps in the workforce and wider economy is being launched today. MicroCreds.ie has been developed by the Irish University Association in conjunction with a number of universities offering hundreds of short, flexible courses with university-accreditation. MicroCreds partner universities have developed courses in key skills areas including sustainability, digital…

New Central Bank figures show that just over 96% of all current accounts that were open in Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland at the beginning of 2022 were either closed or inactive by the end of June this year. Ulster Bank and KBC Bank announced their intentions to leave the Irish market in 2021.…

Asking prices for homes across the country were 2.2% higher between April and June than they were during the same period last year, as the market began to show signs of stabilising. The MyHome.ie quarterly house price report shows that during the period, the national median price sought for a home was €325,000, an increase…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of new electric cars licensed has increased by 65% from 8,309 in the first half of 2022 to 13,701 in the first half of 2023. The CSO said that in the first six months of this year, 25,446 of the new cars licensed were…