Celtic Tiger-era jobs growth easing Brexit fears for now

There is mounting evidence of a strengthening of the global economy since last autumn.

This would appear to be washing through to Ireland. All the evidence is that the Irish economy finished 2016 on a very strong note and has sustained this momentum in early 2017, despite the concerns about Brexit and weakness of sterling.

Data on the Irish labour market for the fourth quarter of 2016, published last week by the CSO, were staggeringly strong and reminiscent of figures from the Celtic Tiger era. They rounded off a very strong year for the Irish jobs market. Employment rose 16,700 over the previous quarter to give an increase of 65,000 over the year as a whole, a rise of 3.3%.