Author Archives: splash

EU to impose counter tariffs on €26bn worth of US goods

The European Union will impose counter tariffs on €26 billion ($28bn) worth of US goods from next month, the European Commission said, ramping up a global trade war in response to blanket US tariffs on steel and aluminium. US President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs of 25% on all steel and aluminium imports have taken effect […]

Read More

Almost three-quarters of workers aspire to retire by age 60 or sooner

Almost three-quarters of Ireland’s working population would like to retire by age 60 or sooner, according to new research. The latest Retirement Aspirations survey commissioned by pension company Royal London Ireland, shows that four in ten respondents would like to retire by the age of 50 or even sooner if they could. 7% of those […]

Read More

Employment in construction down in February

Employment fell in the construction sector last month, ending a five-month period of jobs growth. The AIB Ireland Construction PMI report in February shows staffing levels were scaled back midway through the opening quarter of the year. It comes at a time when there are significant concerns over housing output, with CSO figures showing there […]

Read More

Euro zone 2024 economic growth revised up to 0.9%

The euro zone economy grew by 0.9% in 2024, revised data showed today, higher than a previous estimate of 0.7%. The EU’s official statistics agency also revised growth for the fourth quarter of 2024 for the second time to 0.2% in the 20-country single currency area, from 0.1% estimated in February. Eurostat in January had […]

Read More

Airport strike to all but freeze German air travel today

More than half a million people are facing travel disruption at German airports today where a 24-hour strike has led to thousands of flight cancellations in a dispute about workers’ pay. The operator of Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest, said no passenger flights would depart from there today, with delays and cancellations also possible tomorrow. Of […]

Read More

Domestic economy posts ‘healthy’ growth of 2.7% in 2024 – CSO

The domestic economy grew by a healthy 2.7% last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. Gross Domestic Product, which includes the multinationals activity, rose by 1.2% in 2024. Personal spending on goods and services, a key indicator of the domestic economy rose 2.3%, while wages grew by 2.9%. Modified investment […]

Read More

Trump signs order to establish strategic bitcoin reserve

US President Donald Trump yesterday signed an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, a day before meeting with executives from the cryptocurrency industry at the White House. The reserve will be capitalised with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, the White […]

Read More