General Industry News

Return to expansion for construction sector

Business Post – 14.07.2020

Activity in the construction sector returned to expansion for the first time in four months in June, according to Ulster Bank. The bank produces a monthly index designed to track changes in construction activity, which is gauged on a scale of 1 to 100, with 50 the break-even point. The index had been below 50 since March, signaling contraction in the industry. It went as low as 4.5 in April. The measure of 51.9 posted in June was up substantially on the 19.9 recorded in May, when construction sites around the country slowly returned to activity.

Growth in consumer confidence

Business Post – 24.07.2020

Consumer confidence grew again in July, according to new data from KBC Bank Ireland. It marks the third consecutive month of growth in the bank's sentiment index, although the rate of increase was lower than in May and June, and the index is still well behind the figure from July 2019. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Austin Hughes, KBC Bank Ireland chief economist, said the slower rate of recovery recorded in July could reflect the slower rate of economic reopening undertaken by the government.