Irish jobs growth despite ‘massive’ Brexit fears

Business group Ibec said — even amid the “massive worry” that Brexit is savaging a number of Irish-owned industries — that overall employment levels will return to their pre-crash peak at the end of next year.

A separate survey published this morning — the Ulster Bank construction purchasing managers’ index for the Republic — was also upbeat on the prospects for new hires, with the industry’s expansion driving the sharpest rise in building jobs last month since February.

Ibec said a pickup in spending and the growth in multinationals were driving economic expansion, even as it slashed its growth outlook to 3.7% this year and to 2.8% for 2017.