Eurozone ministers have formally approved €240 billion in credit lines to help European countries meet the crippling costs of fighting the coronavirus outbreak. The plan will be run by the eurozone’s rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, and is a first big step for the EU’s joint effort to lift an economy projected to contract…
The unemployment rate for April, as measured by the Covid-19 adjusted measure, jumped to a new record high of 28.2%, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today The CSO said the Covid-19 crisis continued to have a significant impact on the labour market here in April. The new Covid-19 Adjusted Unemployment rate rose…
Revenue has announced further measures to help companies with cashflow difficulties through the coronavirus crisis. The tax collector has suspended the charging of interest on late payments for May and June PAYE liabilities due in June and July from small and medium sized firms (SMEs) with turnover of less than €3m. It has also suspended…
More workers should be facilitated to work from home in order to improve their chances of retaining their jobs, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute. In their report “Who Can Work From Home in Ireland”, authors Paul Redmond and Seamus McGuinness note that 800,000 workers are currently unemployed or furloughed because of Covid-19….
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that a total of 4,986 new homes were completed in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 17.2% on the same time last year. Construction sites were closed in the latter half of March due to Covid-19 restrictions and so the impact on completions will…
Ireland’s economy will contract by 8% in 2020 and expand again by 6% in 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll, according to the European Commission’s latest economic forecast. The economic uncertainty has been compounded by “specific” Irish factors, such as Brexit and changes in international taxation, the outlook says. Overall, Ireland’s unemployment, deficit and debt levels…
China’s exports saw a shock 3.5% rise in April despite the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic, official figures showed today, but analysts warned of weakness ahead as key markets suffer downturns. The brewing threat of a renewed trade war with the US could also pose a problem, observers said. Imports fell 14.2% on-year, a…
Enterprise Ireland has a Business Response Unit, and in these times, it has been busy. Over 1,000 businesses have engaged with the unit since March, with 60% of those companies saying Covid-19 has had a very negative or critical impact on their business. Financial planning was listed as one of the key priorities identified by…
The latest retail data shows that 50% of households in Ireland bought baking supplies in recent weeks, with flour sales up 52% and sugar sales rising by 43%. The data from Kantar also shows that home grocery sales grew by 17.2% in the 12 weeks to 19 April. But Kantar said that sales of non-grocery…
There are now 598,000 people dependent on the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, which is up 7,000 in the last week, according to the latest figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. This week’s Pandemic Unemployment Payments will cost €209.3m, with 11,000 recipients receiving the payment for the first time this week. Workers…
