Today sees the release of May data from the Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI®. The latest report – produced for Ulster Bank by IHS Markit – pointed to a pick-up in new order growth during May, supporting a further solid increase in output. The rate of job creation also accelerated as firms responded to current workloads and positive expectations around future new work. Meanwhile, both input costs and output prices rose at slower rates than in April. Continue reading
The extent of the pressure being put on Northern Ireland’s third sector by the political impasse is revealed in the latest Ulster Bank & Co3 3rd Sector Index. Continue reading
Today we release the annual Ulster Bank Ulster Fry Index. It shows that the price of items making up a cooked breakfast have increased by 2.8 percent in the last 12 months, based on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Continue reading
We’ve all heard the oft-used phrase ‘the economy is the number one priority’. However, there is perhaps still a deficit in terms of public understanding of economic issues. People perhaps don’t realise how far Northern Ireland lags the rest of the UK in terms of GVA (and the gap has been widening) or how much more Northern Ireland receives in public spending. Continue reading
We’ve heard of the Crane Count, the Cappuccino Index, and even the Big Mac Index – each an alternative means of examining and predicting trends in the economy. But analysing the local carpark is perhaps an even more insightful way of understanding the various forces impacting on consumers, companies and economies, from geopolitics to the price of a barrel of oil and movements in the exchange rate. In many respects, the car park is a microcosm of the economy, and having a look at what people use to get themselves from A to B can tell us more than economists’ spreadsheets and even Bank of England briefings. Continue reading
The latest Ulster Bank NI PMI is out this morning. It signalled that the rate of growth in business activity at Northern Ireland companies quickened sharply at the end of 2016 and was the strongest in almost two-and-a-half years. Continue reading
The Ulster Bank & CO3 3rd Sector Index for Q4 2016 is released today.
It is a barometer of Northern Ireland’s third sector, involving a quarterly survey of CO3 members who include the leaders of some of Northern Ireland’s largest charities and social enterprises through to small community groups. Continue reading
Today sees the release of November data from the Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI®. It signalled that the rate of expansion in activity at companies in Northern Ireland accelerated on the back of a return to growth of new business. Continue reading
Today sees the release of October data from the Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI®. The latest report – produced for Ulster Bank by Markit – signalled that business activity returned to growth, although the rate of expansion was modest as total new orders were largely unchanged in spite of a substantial increase in exports. Export orders were supported by the weakness of sterling, but this also had the effect of pushing up input costs which rose substantially. Continue reading
