Economic
Payrolls growth faster in higher-wage sectors, unlike US and UK
We estimate that Ireland’s employee payrolls annual growth picked up to 2.7% in Q1. The increase was broadly based and suggests the economy is on course to grow rapidly again this...
US payrolls beat expectations as Q1 corporate earnings soar
Last week’s US nonfarm payrolls for April exceeded expectations, and we note that Q1 corporate earnings have also been exceptionally strong. For the UK, while Labour’s weak local...
Steady underlying growth in April despite more tax volatility
An unusual upside surprise to corporation tax last month could reflect early payment of top-up taxes due from the middle of this year given very few companies are typically liable in...
Consensus housing forecasts set to top 40k on strong Q1 data
Today’s result for Q1 housing output is encouraging. We expect the strong double-digit increase of 33% is likely to imply upgrades to the consensus outlook for housing delivery this...
First-time buyer activity grew strongly again in March
One takeaway from today’s residential property price data for March is the continued strong growth in first-time buyer (FTB) transactions in March. This aligns with a key message...
Resilient Irish economy in March despite high global uncertainty
The latest exchequer returns for March and card payments data for February align with our view that the Irish economy began 2026 in good shape. We think an inflation boost to tax...
Jobs growth of about 2.5% in December and January
We continue to look through November’s surprisingly weak payrolls result and note that December and January payrolls, with typical revisions factored in, grew by about 2.5% in annual...
Q4 national accounts show strong economic growth in 2025
The quarterly national accounts for Q4 2025 are consistent with our long-standing view that the Irish economy remains in a high-growth phase, despite high global uncertainty. Consumer...
UK growth picked up in Q1 after Budget-driven weakness in Q4
The UK economy was stronger than expected in March, and after some downward revision to February’s result, Q1 growth was in line with consensus. This resilience is encouraging despite...
Escaping two lost decades
May 06 2026 07:00 IST/BST
Inflation meets consensus in March before likely falls in April
UK consumer price inflation (CPI) was in line with consensus for March, and slightly below consensus for core inflation. While services inflation remains higher than the Bank of England...
UK economic growth far above expectations in February
UK gross domestic product (GDP) was far stronger than expected in February. While some elements of the results look noisy, especially construction which jumped 1% on the month despite...
