Half-term breaks used to be the time of the year when offices were at their quietest as parents took leave to spend time with their children when they were off school. These days, though, there is perhaps little difference, as many offices are quiet throughout the year due to working from home. Whilst this has clear benefits for many, some parents would view working from home during the Halloween break as something of a horror story, with no prospect of peace and quiet to be productive.
If we went back in time to the 1970s or 80s, Northern Ireland was throwing money to attract single investors like DeLorean to help address chronic unemployment. Even getting them interested in speculative visits was a difficult ask and for many, no amount of sweeteners made investing in NI an attractive proposition.
Reflections on the labour market statistics today put in context of wider trends
Since the pandemic, the local labour market largely became the go to place for positive economic statistics. Employment at record highs and unemployment close to historic lows has been a line regularly trotted out. A cursory glance at these two statistics provides some comfort that the labour market appears to be functioning well.
It has long been known that due to affordability challenges, young people have turned to their parents for money to help fund a deposit to buy their first home. But recent figures suggest that the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ (BOMAD) may be running out of cash. Bloomberg’s research suggests that while many first-time buyers are still relying on their parents, more and more are turning to their siblings instead. So what does the rise of BOBAS (the Bank of Bro and Sis) tell us about the housing market?
It has been something of a blockbuster summer for cinemas, with the release of Barbenheimer (i.e. Barbie and Oppenheimer) coinciding with the wettest July on record to drive people to their local movie theatres. Something similar has been happening with Bingo halls; another area that had previously been so badly affected by the pandemic. But it hasn’t been a blockbuster summer for the economy overall, with conditions in the private sector, like the weather, taking a turn for the worse. So what’s going on?
Continue readingWhen I’ve been at summer parties recently, some people have asked me when I’m due. I was beginning to get paranoid about my barbecue belly. But it turns out they were asking me the question de jour – when am I due to remortgage? When is your 2-year or 5-year fix rate deal due to end?
It could be said that the global economy at present is characterised by ‘financial hangxiety’. Anyone who has been to a late spring / early summer barbecue and suffered from the after-effects of beer, wine or aperol spritz the next morning, and the dread of the working week that lies ahead, will probably know what hangxiety is. With the financial version, consumers are experiencing the effects of rising food and utility bills and resulting nervousness about the state of their household finances going forward. This is particularly true for those mortgage holders due to see a surge in their mortgage payments in the coming months and years.
The question on many people’s lips of late has been whether food price rises have peaked. Food price inflation hit 18.3 percent according to the most recent figures from ONS. This is the highest annual rise in 45 years. And the hope is that food price rises will now begin to ease. But people perhaps misunderstand what this means. And are perhaps asking the wrong question anyway.
Northern Ireland sometimes gets characterised as a naval-gazing backwater, where overly conservative views and inward-looking discussions dominate. But whilst we have to acknowledge that there is some truth in this, I don’t think we always get enough credit for the many things from here that are out of this world. Recently, NI’s creative talent was on display at both the Superbowl and the BAFTAs, and is set to be showcased in Hollywood soon as well. Many companies from here are high achievers on a global scale too, and on the sporting front, the Irish Rugby team is currently world number one. It’s also encouraging that NI PLC is looking to the stars as well, with the UK Space Conference coming to Belfast later this year.
2022 was the year in which energy prices soared, and as we came into the new year, there were fears of energy shortages or even the lights going out due to blackouts. As we move further into 2023, energy prices are still very much on our minds, but people will be hoping the lights will go back on at Stormont to help deal with challenges that households, businesses, the public sector and society as a whole face this year.
