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Hairdressers, barbers, spas, chiropractors and dentists were among the big beneficiaries of the Phase 3 reopening of the economy yesterday, according to transaction data from Revolut. Pubs and restaurants also got a boost from the restart of business, although to a lesser extent than the other big winners. Excluding online shopping, overall spending yesterday by…

The manufacturing sector returned to growth in June after recovering almost all of the sudden deterioration seen following the coronavirus-related shutdown of most of the economy in March, a survey showed today.  The economy here has opened more gradually than much of Europe with large parts of the services sector including hotels, restaurants, hairdressers and…

The number of new mortgage approvals in May was nearly 62% lower than the same month last year. According to the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, the decrease was not unexpected given the scale of the lockdown and physical restrictions due to Covid-19. In total 1,879 new mortgages were approved by lenders here in May…

A large number of full-time workers in receipt of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme or Pandemic Unemployment Payment face tax bills of between €150 and €2,828 by the end of the year, Taxback.com has warned. The latest Taxback.com Taxpayer Sentiment Survey revealed that 57% of respondents receiving either payment are not aware that a future…

Lending to euro zone companies continued to surge in May as firms relied heavily on bank credit to stay afloat amid the continent’s coronavirus-related lockdown, data from the European Central Bank showed today.  With millions of people in stuck at home and much of the bloc’s economy mothballed, activity came to a standstill in March…

The International Monetary Fund has further lowered its forecasts for global economic growth this year.   In its World Economic Outlook published today, the IMF said economies around the world have been more negatively impacted in the first half of the year than it had anticipated and recovery has been more gradual than previously forecast.  …

Employers’ group Ibec has called for Ireland’s international travel restrictions to be ended and for testing and tracing to be used in place of “ineffective” quarantine measures. People entering Ireland from abroad currently have to quarantine themselves for 14 days upon arrival into the country. Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said there were benefits from quarantine…

Consumer sentiment improved in June for the second month in a row, but remains well below levels recorded before the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, a survey showed today.  The KBC Bank consumer sentiment index climbed to 61.6 in June from 52.3 in May, but remains some distance from February’s pre-pandemic reading of 85.2.  In…

Growth in the Irish economy averaged 5.2% per annum from 2013 to 2018, according to an analysis of new CSO data. In a Special Article for the ESRI, Professor John Fitzgerald describes a measure, called Net National Product, as the best picture of the “economic welfare of those living in Ireland”. For years, the traditional measure of…

A trade union has warned employers of an “industrial war” if they try to renege on pay and pension agreements with workers. It comes after the High Court yesterday deemed legislation allowing for the setting of legally enforceable pay and conditions for workers in various employment sectors to be unconstitutional. The Connect Trade Union, which represents workers…