The Figures out this week that prompted and early budget
Unemployment
6.1% - the unemployment rate in August
Some 247,384 people are "signing on", up 73,178 or 42 per cent on August 2007. Even when the numbers are seasonally adjusted, there were still an extra 9,100 people claiming jobseekers benefits in the month of August compared to July.
Mass layoffs of construction workers appear to be the main reason for the jump, but there have also been job losses in manufacturing, retail and financial services. The last time the Live Register of claimants was this high was in March 1998. The annual increase in claimants is the steepest since records began back in 1967, but this is partly explained by the growth in the size of the labour force.
The unemployment rate is now estimated to be 6.1 per cent, with economists forecasting that it will hit 8 per cent next year.
Housing
70% - annual drop in new home registrations
Housebuilding activity came to a near standstill in August. With a large overhang of unsold houses still on the market, some analysts do not expect a recovery until 2010 at the earliest.
House prices, which have fallen 12 per cent since their peak, are now declining at more modest monthly rates, according to the Permanent TSB / ESRI house price index.
But economists are reluctant to say that prices are stabilising.
Meanwhile, buyers remain nervous, with the value of mortgages advanced to first-time buyers falling 19 per cent over the past year.
It is likely that the Government will announce a package of policy measures in the budget aimed at boosting the level of property transactions.
Public finances
€2.8 BILLION - shortfall in tax collected so far this year
The State coffers have deteriorated rapidly over the summer. Less than two months ago, the Government was predicting a tax shortfall of €3 billion for the year compared to its start-of-year expectations. Yesterday it said the shortfall would be "at least €5 billion", while some economists predicted it would be closer to €6 billion.
The exchequer deficit has trebled over the last year.
Why has it happened? The collapse of the housing market has led to a massive undershoot in property-related taxes such as VAT, capital gains and stamp duty, while rising unemployment has left the exchequer with more jobseekers' benefits to pay and less income tax to use to pay it. Spending cuts and increases in borrowing and taxes are now likely.
Industry
39% - services sector firms whose activity declined in August
The woes of the construction sector have been well-documented, but the economic malaise has now spread into the manufacturing and services sectors.
Activity in the services sector fell to a record low in August, according to a new index. A similar study on the manufacturing sector shows that employment in that sector has declined in each of the last nine months, as firms were hit by higher costs and a drying up in demand for their goods from both home and abroad.
So far in 2008, data on official redundancies released by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on Monday shows that there have been 7,148 redundancies in the services industry and 6,588 redundancies in the manufacturing and engineering sectors.
THE BUDGET: HOW IT WORKS
The budget is a blueprint of the Government's economic agenda for the State. It sets out its budgetary targets for the following three years, including its fiscal, social and economic policies. There are three key stages to the budget.
On the Saturday before the budget, the White Paper on Receipts Expenditure, which is the opening position for the Budget, is published by the Government.
On budget day, the following documents are published:
• Estimates - these provide details of its spending plans for the coming year. The Estimates are split into two parts: current, which outlines day-to-day spending, and the capital budget, which accounts for State investment.
• Financial statement - the Minister for Finance's speech to the Dáil;
• Budget measures - a detailed list of changes announced in the budget together with the estimated cost or yield arising;
• Budget statistics and tables - giving detailed budgetary projections for the next three years;
• Financial resolutions - which give temporary legislative backing for immediate budgetary changes
• Stability programme update - this outlines the economic background to the budget and sets out economic strategy over the following three years. It is produced in compliance with the EU Stability and Growth Pact.
Following the publication of the budget, the Government publishes its Revised Estimates for Public Services, which updates pre-budget figures and features expenditure adjustments in the budget.