News Round

Welcome back everyone. It’s time to play catch up with some of the key news items from the first week of 2012, which are mostly a mixed bag.

Services shrinking ↓

Ireland’s services sector shrank for the first time in a year in December as global economic turmoil undermined confidence and new orders fell sharply, a survey showed.

Foreign Investment ↑

The IDA landed a record number of foreign investments in Ireland (148) last year with a net gain of 6,000 jobs at IDA supported firms as exports surged, its year-end statement said.

Business Sentiment improves ↑

Ireland was the only EU State where business sentiment improved in the past year, the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report for 2012 showed. Over 70pc of Irish businesses expect profitability, revenue and selling prices to improve in the coming year but it will be a jobless recovery with just 15% of Irish companies expecting to increase employee numbers.

No Rises Expected ↓

The majority (58pc) of Irish professionals say they expect no pay rise this year, although 21pc predict that salaries will increase, albeit modestly, by approximately 1pc to 5pc.

Firms Collapse ↓

Nearly 170 companies collapsed every month in the first 11 months of 2011, owing near E1.2 billion in debt, according to the latest figures from VisionNet. It said that 1,930 Irish companies failed in the months from January to December – up 20pc on the same period a year earlier.

Manufacturing Down ↓

Irish manufacturing firms recorded a second straight fall in their operating conditions during December, the latest NCB Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed.

Sick Proposal ↓

Small and medium sized business lobby group, ISME, has slammed the Government for its “absurd” proposal to transfer responsibility for paying sick pay in the first month of illness from the Department of Social Protection to individual employers.