HOUSE prices fell last month at their fastest rate for two-and-a-half years.

MOTOR, home and health insurance costs all fell last month as figures show the cost of living has started to edge lower.

FOR the fourth month in a row the number of people signing on the dole has increased, with the number on the Live Register now at a record high.

CONSUMERS are dipping into their savings more while banks are lending less money, Central Bank data indicates.

MANY of the country’s retailers are on a “knife edge” as shoppers keep their money in their pockets and sales continue to plunge.

BROKERS have called the move by ratings agency Moody’s to cut Ireland’s credit rating to junk as “cynical and manipulative”.

THE Irish economy needs an SSIA scheme in reverse that rewards consumers who spend rather than save, according to Bloxham stockbrokers.

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan firmly committed the taxpayer to paying back “to the last red cent” all the money lent to the Irish state and the two pillar banks of AIB and Bank of Ireland — but not to unsecured bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank.

EMIGRATION is set to double to 60,000 this year as Ireland’s two-speed economy fails to deliver jobs, Bloxham chief economist Alan McQuaid believes.

A SENIOR economist has warned the first increase in the number of dole claimants in four months could just be the start of a further slump in the labour market due to the austerity measures introduced by the Government last month.

CONSUMERS are continuing to borrow less and are increasingly struggling to meet mortgage repayments, figures reveal.

THERE has been a serious deterioration in the quality of politicians going through the doors of Leinster House over the last 10 to 15 years.

IRELAND’S manufacturing output was up a strong 12.1% in the year in September and total industrial production was 10.9% higher, according to figures released yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.

IRELAND could yet be forced to relinquish its 12.5% corporation tax rate if it has to go to Europe for financial assistance to deal with the current debt crisis.

EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) rates are expected to stay at their record low level for at least another year, but steady hikes are then expected.

HOUSING charities are warning interest hikes could force tens of thousands into default as it was revealed more than 36,000 debt-ridden householders are three months or more behind with mortgage payments.

SUMMER sales and falling oil prices resulted in lower clothing and petrol prices last month but food costs are nudging up.

THE banking sector is still fragile and there are still many reasons for concern about the economy.

ALMOST 167,000 people lost their jobs during 2009 – a reduction of 8.1% in the number of people at work in the space of 12 months.

UP TO 80% or respondents in a survey believe NAMA will be good for the economy and banks.

CLOTHES and food costs plunged in the last year with experts predicting prices are set to fall even further.

CONVENIENCE food group Greencore suffered a sharp hit to its share price in early trading yesterday as it emerged that 29.5% of the group’s equity is about to be placed with new investors.

THE main insurance body for solicitors in Ireland has claimed its ability effectively to indemnify solicitors has been affected by more than €8 million losses allegedly resulting from negligent advice by Bloxham Stockbrokers about investing in atotally unsuitable bond which fell 97% in value.

AIB plans to sell off its €1.13 billion 22.64% holding in M&T Bank in the US to raise capital, it emerged yesterday.

KINGSPAN plans to continue reducing debts in the second half of this year after wiping off €69 million in debts while making profits of €24.9m in the first six months of the year.

RYANAIR was downgraded by one stockbroking firm yesterday as analysts clamoured to offer their take on the airline’s latest set of results.

THE only way the Government can overcome the massive shortfalls in tax receipts is by cutting public sector pay, according to Bloxham, which believes Ireland has weathered the worst of the global economic downturn.

WORKERS have been told they can forget about wage increases this year as the rate of inflation drops to -1.7%.

SMALL businesses will come under further pressure because the budget has done little for the promotion of enterprise.

BLOXHAM Stockbrokers says the Government should beach the EU’s borrowing guidelines and raid the National Pension Reserve Fund for up to €10 billion in order to pull the economy back from the brink of recession.

A high-flying London lawyer claimed his former firm forced him to retire early in a strongly-contested legal battle today.

ANNUAL inflation has fallen to its lowest level in five years, according to official figures published yesterday, but experts warned the good news may not last long.

ELAN is finally emerging from the confidence crisis that hit the company in 2002, resulting in a massive fall in its share price, with the announcement of a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

RECORD oil prices and the underlying inflationary threat suggests the US Federal Reserve will continue to raise rates in the months ahead.

PETROL prices could soon r each one euro per litre, as oil prices soared to a 14-year-high yesterday.