60% believe worst is still to come for our economic fortunes

IRISH people are not feeling positive about the economic future although the outlook here is not as gloomy as in Greece or Portugal, according to a new survey.

The Eurobarometer on Economic Sentiment polled 31,769 people across Europe in May and found 60% of Irish people believe the worst is yet to come in terms of the economic downturn. That is a decrease of 12% compared with the previous survey, while the 30% who believe the impact of the crisis on jobs has reached its peak is an increase of 10%.

The figures still show Irish sentiment is skewed towards the negative when compared with sentiment in many other European countries, but not quite to the extent of those in Portugal and Greece. In the latter, 78% of those polled believe the worst is still to come, while in Portugal the corresponding figure is 80%.