As we head into September and the return of the schools after the summer holidays, many kids will now be thinking about Halloween and the prospect of trick or treating.

A further softening in retail sales is expected as the second half of the year progresses, after a continued slowdown in consumer spending in the past three months.

Irish jobs growth fell for the first time in seven years in the second quarter of the year, indicating that employment may be reaching peak level.

Rents and mortgage costs are hugely outpacing the overall rate of inflation — even as the ECB keeps a tight lid on interest rates, according to official figures.

The clouds are darkening over the global economy.

Central Bank warns also of major economic slowdown, sterling crisis

A full-blown sterling crisis threatens Irish prosperity well before the end of October when the new London administration has threatened to take Britain out of the EU without a deal, economists and business groups have warned.

Retail sales - in terms of both volume and value - grew in the second quarter of the year, but pubs and car dealerships remained the traditional losers.

Landlords continue to hike rents at many times the overall rate of inflation despite the housing crisis, but the costs of insuring a car, after consecutive years of price increases, fell sharply in the past year, official figures suggest.

That was the stark warning from the head of credit at MyMortgages.ie, Joe Sheahan

The lifting of a scare over an unexpected shortfall in corporation tax revenues could pave the way for some sort of giveaway budget even as the gloom over a no-deal Brexit outcome deepens, a leading economist has said.

Retail sales grew, by volume and value, in the past three months, but changing consumer spending patterns have continued to hit pub and bar sales hard.

The increase in car loans may be rising faster than the rise in home loans, new figures suggest.

Upcoming national elections across Europe could ratchet up the external pressure on the Irish economy - already under threat from Brexit, potential global trade wars, and US corporate tax policy changes - an economist has warned.

One of the country’s leading economic commentators, Alan McQuaid, stepped down this week from his job as chief economist at Cantor Fitzgerald in Dublin.

Rents, mortgage payments and utility bills saw the biggest hikes for consumers in March as annual inflation rose above 1% for the first time in six years, according to the CSO.

Sterling fell slightly as Theresa May lost a vote for the third time for her EU withdrawal deal, which could bring a UK general election closer.

Ireland has finally secured a foothold at the summit of European central banking following the appointment of Central Bank governor Philip Lane to the six member executive board of the ECB, as chief economist.

Chemists, electrical goods retailers and hardware outlets are the big winners from a continued rise in consumer spending levels over the past three months, while pubs and bars largely lost out.

A surge in sterling as EU and UK negotiators reached a breakthrough in the Brexit talks could be shortlived, analysts have warned, as many political obstacles to closing the deal lie ahead.

Opposition politicians and experts have criticised Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe for funding increased spending and plugging a budget hole in the health service from an additional €1bn corporation tax receipts bounty.

Irish factories may slough off concerns about the Brexit-driven devaluation of sterling and the potential for global trade wars to boost output this year, Merrion chief economist Alan McQuaid has said.

The US central bank left interest rates unchanged at its latest monetary policy meeting in the past week.

Sales of paints and hardware helped retail sales extend a winning streak even as bar owners posted a drop in sales, official figures show.

Last year was a good one for the world economy, with its best growth performance in six years.

Comments by ECB chief economist over the steep path inflation still has to take may mean mortgage rates here stay lower for longer, an economist has said.

The number of unemployed people in Ireland has fallen to its lowest level in a decade.

GDP figures showing the economy is Europe’s fastest growing has the potential to keep up the pace in 2018, despite Brexit headwinds, analysts have predicted.

GDP figures showing the economy is Europe’s fastest growing has the potential to keep up the pace in 2018, despite Brexit headwinds, analysts have predicted.

CSO figures showing a rapid pace in economic growth will likely extend through next year and could set the scene for a general election, a leading analyst has said.

House prices “are only going one way” unless the lack of supply is resolved — as the cost of buying a home has surged by almost 13%.

Consumer spending this Christmas will likely be up from a year ago but not “spectacularly so”, the latest monthly reading of consumer sentiment suggests.

Ireland is still expected to generate another record annual trade surplus this year despite new CSO figures showing export value growth sunk to its lowest level of the year in August.

The eurozone’s trade surplus shrank in August as the stronger euro fuelled an import boom that was only partly offset by a rise in exports, official estimates showed yesterday.

Sterling slid for a second day as the markets weighed up the potential Tory challengers to UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership and warned of more “choppy” times ahead.

The head of the ECB has said youth unemployment across Europe remains far too high despite the marked economic recovery from the depths of the financial crisis.

Employers’ group Ibec has expressed concerns about proposals to introduce legislation to outlaw zero hours working contracts.

A surge in the value of sterling against the euro on increased speculation that a UK rate hike is looming has for the time being eased fears about the fallout of Brexit boosting cross-border shopping and disrupting the economy.

The first increases in interest rates still appear to be sometime in the distance despite ECB president Mario Draghi signalling that the central bank was preparing to scale back its huge stimulus programme that has helped boost economic growth in the eurozone, say economists.

Retail prices edged higher last month as the cost of hotel rooms and private rents accelerated.

A restoration of the standard Vat rate to 21%, greater help for retailers to trade online and a tackling of business rate levels have been called for as latest retail sales figures show continued volatility, writes Geoff Percival.

A new picture of the economy shows it is much smaller and the country’s debt burden is much heavier but also suggests that the domestic economy is powering ahead.

The Consumers’ Association of Ireland has said it strongly suspects that the full benefits of the over 13% surge in the value of the euro against the sterling in the past year are not being passed onto Irish shoppers in lower prices.

The huge run up for shares of US giants, such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and the Alphabet-owned Google, as well as semiconductor stocks, may have peaked, according to the latest global outlook from Merrion Capital.