Irish factory output falls steeply

Production at Irish factories fell in February by 12.4%, the steepest monthly decline since June 2014, possibly hinting at a slowdown of a remarkable expansion that has driven Ireland’s GDP.

The CSO figures showed the annual fall in production of 1.3% was the sharpest since May last year.

The figures may attract attention because they come as fears about the UK voting to leave the EU has led to the euro climbing against sterling. That has stripped away the competitive advantage for firms in the Republic exporting into Britain.

Output from the so-called ‘modern sector’ of the economy, which includes the many foreign-owned pharmaceutical and chemical companies based here, slumped almost 18% in the month — the largest drop since December 2014.

Its annual contraction of 1% was the largest since May last year. The ‘traditional sector’ which includes Irish-owned firms fared better.

The fall of 0.7% in the month followed a 5.7% expansion in January, while an annual drop of 0.2% came after an increase of 3.9%.

Other figures from the CSO showed that unemployment fell to 8.6% in March from 8.8% in the previous month.

For males, the unemployment rate was at 10.2%, and at 6.7% for females.

In recent years, the CSO has published the unemployment rate separately from the Live Register figures.

The latest Live Register, which include people on training schemes and who do not count toward the jobless total, are published on Thursday.