All the big economic indicators across Ireland and the EU, and the UK, are pretty glowing at the moment.
Economic activity is well up across the board, unemployment rates are down, inflation is still very low, and there’s a hint that interest rates are about to begin lifting for the first time in years ( although the ECB has stalled the ball on that front recently - and reports from USA indicate a tightening of rates there has put a squeeze on economy).
One little negative indicator in Ireland though is the early stats from the new car sales division. So far this year new car sales are down 8 per cent.
It's only the first two months data of 2017 from Ireland - but as mentioned before, the new car metric is an unofficial economic bellwether, a gauge of sentiment that is out there amongst business types and the populace at large.
No doubt we’ll be keeping an eye on that gauge over the coming months and year.
