Your business week: Irish and Euro zone unemployment

Monday, September 30th

Indicators: Euro zone unemployment (Aug); UK GDP (Q2), business investment (Q2), mortgage approvals and lending (Aug), net lending to individuals (Aug), Bank of England consumer credit (Aug); German retail sales (Aug), unemployment (Sep), inflation (Sep).
Meetings: Providence Resources EGM (Davy, Davy House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2); Brexit Data Compliance Ibec briefing (Ibec, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2).

Tuesday, October 1st

Results: Ferguson.
Indicators: Irish unemployment (Sep); Euro zone manufacturing PMI (Sep), inflation (Sep); UK manufacturing PMI (Sep); German manufacturing PMI (Sep); US manufacturing PMI (Sep), construction spending (Aug), manufacturing employment, prices and new orders (Sep).
Meetings: Predict data conference (RDS, Dublin 4); Learnovation conference on e-learning sector (Croke Park, Dublin 3); Local Government Supplier event with InterTrade Ireland (Citywest Hotel and Conference Centre, Saggart, Co Dublin); Launch of Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) Ageing Workforce in Ireland study (ESRI, Whitaker Square, St John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2).

For all the talk of German's flirtation with recession, Brexit's expected toll on the economy and a deepening trade war between the US and China, the economy as reflected in unemployment rates in Ireland and across Europe continues to look healthy, at least for now.

The latest monthly data is reported this week (Ireland on Tuesday and the Euro zone on Monday) and ought to be a continuation of the trend.

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At the beginning of September, Central Statistics Office (CSO) numbers showed the jobless rate fell to 5.2 per cent last month, a post-crash low. Seasonally adjusted numbers of those classified as unemployed was at 126,000 in August, down 1,800 on the previous month.

Ireland’s performance is also two percentage points lower than the current euro area average of 7.5 per cent, for July, while the EU 28 figure for the same period was at 6.3 per cent.

Germany, a weathervane for European health, avoided recession last year but its output fell by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter and many believe things will get worse before they get better.

Even still, the latest data for the Euro area was unchanged from the previous month's 11-year low and the number of unemployed continues to decline. The broader European Union number, meanwhile, is at its lowest since the start of monthly unemployment figures at the beginning of the century.

Wednesday, October 2nd

Indicators: UK construction PMI (Oct); US mortgage rates and applications (Sep).
Meetings: Dublin Chamber's Sustainable Dublin 2050 event on circular economy (Dublin Chamber, 7 Clare Street, Dublin 2).

Thursday, October 3rd

Results: PepsiCo.
Indicators: Euro zone services and composite PMI (Sep), retail sales (Aug), PPI (Aug); UK services PMI (Sep); German services and composite PMI (Sep); US services, non-manufacturing and composite PMI (Sep), factory orders (Aug), vehicle sales (Sep).
Meetings: Lean Construction Annual Conference (Croke Park, Dublin 3); All Island Business Conference with Ibec and the Confederation of British Industry (Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk); Small Firms Association (SFA) employment law seminar (Castletroy Hotel, Dublin Road, Limerick); Irish Wood & Furniture Manufacturing Network annual conference (Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin).

Who knows what’s going on with Brexit anymore? Whatever happens next month (or maybe later), there will be no shortage of business and economic conferences with the UK departure at their core, and for good reason.

On Thursday, the latest event picking at the threads – and this one is about ensuring trade will prosper "irrespective of Brexit" – is the All Island Economy Conference, jointly hosted by Ibec, the business representative group, and its Northern Ireland counterpart CBI.

With a keynote from economist and Irish Times columnist David McWilliams, it will be a gathering of business leaders eager to gain insights into the operating environment of the island of Ireland, a topic quite likely to get a lot more complicated in the months ahead.

Friday, October 4th

Meetings: Abbey agm (Grand Hotel, Malahide, Co Dublin).
Indicators: Irish services index (Jul); UK new car sales (Sep); German construction PMI (Sep); US non-farm payrolls and unemployment (Sep), exports and imports (Aug).