The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady yesterday and pushed out the start of rate cuts to perhaps as late as December as policymakers sketched out their view of an economy that remains virtually unchanged across its major dimensions for years to come. With growth and unemployment lodged at levels better than the US central…

US consumer inflation ticked lower last month, according to US government data, giving the US Federal Reserve positive news shortly before it publishes its latest interest rate decision. The annual consumer price index (CPI) came in at 3.3% in May, down 0.1 percentage point from April, the Labor Department said in a statement. The monthly…

Government plans to increase Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) to fund the State pension will lead to a slight increase in poverty rates, particularly the child poverty rate, as those in the most affected age cohort are also those most likely to have dependent children. New research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)…

Irish mortgage rates dropped slightly in April, new data from the Central Bank of Ireland shows. The average interest rate on a new mortgage was 4.24%, down 0.07 percentage points compared to March. This meant Ireland had the seventh highest rates in the Eurozone, an improvement of one place on the previous month. The Eurozone…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the seasonally adjusted Live Register total fell by 0.3% to 173,200 people in May when compared to the previous month. The CSO said the unadjusted Live Register total stood at 168,406 people, down 4.6% from the same month last year. Of the 168,406 people on the…

Ireland’s approach to the enforcement of building regulations requires a cultural shift, according to the new President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors. Kevin Hollingsworth called for a new proactive approach by local authorities, which he said must be backed by exchequer funding. Currently, local authorities are required to only inspect between 12 and 15%…

Oil prices traded lower today, as investors waited for key US and China CPI data as well as the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting to glean a clearer picture of where inflation is heading and how that will affect fuel demand. Brent crude futures fell 13 cents, or 0.16%, to $81.50 per barrel…

The euro fell sharply today, hit by political uncertainty after gains by the far-right in voting for the European Parliament on Sunday prompted a bruised French President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap national election. The uncertainty in France adds one more element to what will be a busy week for markets with crucial US…

Housing commencements remain on an upward trend, according to BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland, with continued increases in construction activity across key residential segments. The construction activity index posted fractionally below the 50.0 no-change mark in May to signal broadly stable output in the sector midway through the second quarter. The reading was down from…

The United Nations world food price index rose for a third consecutive month in May, as higher cereals and dairy product prices outweighed drops in prices for sugar and vegetable oils. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 120.4 points in May, up 0.9% from…