Northern Ireland

Big Economic Review of the Year 2019

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Each December, we try to bring together some of the greatest minds in business and economics to review the year just past.

Unfortunately they’re never available. However, whilst you’re stuck with me, Richard Ramsey, we have been able to enlist the fantastic Stephen Kelly, Chief Executive of Manufacturing NI, and the incomparable Richard Johnston of Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre to consider the good, the bad and the ugly of the NI, UK and global economies in 2019 and to speculate about who might be the economic villains of 2020.

We got together in Ulster Bank headquarters in Belfast earlier this week and covered a lot of ground… Have a listen and hopefully you find it useful and interesting.

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Bye for now and have a great Christmas and New Year!

Chief Economist’s Weekly Brief – Uncertain times

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2019 was a year of heightened uncertainty. It was coming from the Brexit delays and negotiations, new resurgence in the trade wars and worsening global economic outlook. Locally, Northern Ireland notched up another year of Stormont in ‘cold storage’. 2020 has a busy brief locally, nationally and globally.

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Chief Economist’s Weekly Brief – Caught by surprise

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In contrast with weakness in the Eurozone the US labour market is still in rude health. November employment gains surpassed expectations by a wide margin, despite global trade and economic uncertainty. This will provide relief to the Fed, which has signalled it will pause before it provides any more stimulus to the economy.

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Sharpest fall in business activity for seven years

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Today sees the release of November data from the Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI. The latest report – produced for Ulster Bank by IHS Markit – pointed to sharper declines in output and new orders at Northern Ireland companies, as Brexit uncertainty continued to weigh on activity. Employment also decreased, albeit at a relatively modest pace. Meanwhile, the rate of input cost inflation remained marked, but efforts to stimulate sales led companies to raise their selling prices at only a marginal pace.

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Northern Ireland’s three-speed mortgage market finds a reverse gear

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Two out of three categories of mortgage activity (first-time buyer, home mover and remortgage) posted faster rates of annual growth in Northern Ireland relative to the UK. However, these three segments of the mortgage market are moving at three different speeds.

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Left turn?

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If we consider politics over the past 10 years or so, what is clear is that there was a distinct step to the right in the UK, in the US and elsewhere in the world; the consensus around dealing with the fall-out of the financial crisis taking us in that direction. But there is evidence that we are now set for something of a left turn. And a look at the policies coming from the main UK political parties ahead of the General Election gives credence to this view.

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Two Up Two Down: Latest housing market statistics

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Today’s batch of housing market figures for the third quarter could be summed up as “two up two down”. Two indicators (residential property prices and house completions) posted year-on-year growth.  Meanwhile housing starts and the number of residential property transactions are on the wane. 

Generation rent. House prices are always one of the most closely watched economic indicators by the general public or at least homeowners and potential first-time buyers.   Although the rise of the private rented sector over the last decade means for an increasing share of society, rental prices are more relevant than house prices. Homeownership is not on the radar for as many under 40s as it once was.

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Has Northern Ireland gone selfie mad?

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Northern Ireland’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) churned out more record highs and lows of the positive variety in Q3 2019.  However, looking through all the statistical noise there are still signs that suggest the labour market cycle has turned. A surge in self-employment has been accompanied by a reduction in the number of ‘employees’ working. Meanwhile the total number of hours worked and average hours worked has eased back from its highs earlier in the year. Given the marked deterioration in business conditions in Q3 and Q4 it is expected that this will increasingly become evident within the labour market in the coming quarters. Q2 2019 is still likely to have represented the peak in the total number of employee jobs as measured in the Quarterly Employment Survey.

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Chief Economist’s Weekly Brief – And they’re off!

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The 2019 General Election is officially underway, with politicians of all colours off in search of votes.  At stake is not only the future of Brexit but of fiscal policy, our response to climate change and more besides.  The UK economy looks pale and weak in contrast to the frenzy of activity amongst would-be-MPs.  Business surveys suggest that output stagnated in October, while the Bank of England downgraded it’s growth forecasts, prompting two Monetary Policy Committee members to vote in favour of an immediate 0.25% rate cut. 

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