News

Skills shortages and the retention of talent remain among the key challenges facing organisations, a survey of employers conducted by recruitment specialists, Hays Ireland, has concluded. Almost all of the firms surveyed – 94% – said they had faced skills shortages in 2023, up slightly from the 92% who gave the same response last year.…

Activity in the construction sector in Ireland slowed further last month. It is the fourth month in a row that activity has fallen. According to the BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction Total Activity Index, the pace of decline was solid and faster than that seen in September. A further reduction in activity on housing…

Rents being sought for properties on the open market nationally are continuing to increase, but there has been a continued slowdown in the rate of increase in Dublin, according to the latest daft.ie Rental Report. Rents on the open market are now 8% higher that they were a year ago, with the average market rent…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that production in manufacturing industries decreased by 22% in the third quarter of this year compared to the same second quarter. But the CSO said that production in manufacturing industries rose by 1.3% in September compared with August. Meanwhile, on an annual basis, production in manufacturing industries…

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has warned the Government that new proposed structures for the organisation could slow down the pace of major data protection inquiries involving high-tech companies and other multinationals. In a pre-budget submission, the DPC said there “simply aren’t enough people” if plans for a new system of governance involving multiple committees…

The US Federal Reserve is prepared, if needed, to increase interest rates further in order to bring inflation down to its long-term 2% target, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said. “We know that ongoing progress toward our 2% goal is not assured: Inflation has given us a few head fakes,” Powell told a conference in…

A slight improvement in business sentiment has been captured in the latest European Economic Survey carried out on behalf of Eurochambres, of which Chambers Ireland is a member. The outlook among businesses in Ireland for the year ahead has been described as one of “cautious optimism” with the majority of firms putting the emphasis on…

There has been a surge in the volume and value of car loans being issued here, according to the latest Personal Loans Report from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. The report, which covers the three month period to the end of June, captured a year on year increase of 36% in the volume of car…

The European Central Bank is seeing some progress in its efforts to push down underlying inflation but this is not yet enough, ECB chief economist Philip Lane told a conference in Riga today. Professor Lane said he does not take a lot of comfort from the recent rapid fall in overall inflation because this is…

Rapid wage growth in the euro zone could keep inflation elevated longer and the European Central Bank should hold interest rates at or near record highs during next year to extinguish price pressures, the International Monetary Fund said today. The ECB broke a streak of ten rate hikes in a row last month, fuelling market…