Dublin’s economy is growing with employment rates at their highest in 20 years and consumer spending continuing to increase.
That’s according to the latest Dublin Economic Monitor, produced by EY-DKM Economic Advisory on behalf of Dublin City Council, which looks at a range of economic indicators driving the city’s growth.
These include employment, property and rental prices, housing commencements, hotel rates and public transport use, to determine Dublin’s economic performance from the height of the boom to the economic crash and subsequent recovery.
However, the report also finds the city is showing the symptoms of overcapacity with the cost of residential housing at an all-time high, which may be impacting upon the ability of employers to attract talent from overseas.
Concerns over Brexit are also starting to weigh on consumers’ confidence in the economy.
The monitor noted residential property prices are steadily declining, the level of passenger arrivals at Dublin Airport saw no monthly increase and Dublin Port reported its second consecutive quarterly decline in activity in the last quarter of Q4 of 2018.
Ciara Morley, senior consultant at EY-DKM Economic Advisory, said the story of Dublin’s economy over the past four years has been one of recovery.
She said: “We have seen positive trends across almost all key performance indicators especially those relating to the labour market, with talent attraction now a real and growing challenge for firms in Dublin.
“The data presented in this report appear to show early signs of stabilisation in the Dublin economy [yet] with headwinds approaching in the form of Brexit and a potentially weakening global economy, the overall outlook is still a positive one, bolstered by the labour market and consumer expenditure.”
