Strong growth in Dublin’s manufacturing and construction sectors led to a “solid expansion” in business activity in the capital between July and September, the latest Dublin Economic Monitor shows.
Retail spending data from MasterCard shows that spending in the capital increased again for the 17th consecutive month. Total expenditure increased by 0.3% compared to the previous quarter.
Spending growth between the third quarter was subdued in the four major categories of the retail sector which are tracked. Entertainment spending was up just 0.3%, spending on necessities was up by 0.2%. Discretionary spending and spending on household goods sales were flat.
The latest Dublin S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed a reading of 52.8 for the capital between July and September — a slight increase from the 52.4 recorded previous three-month period. The PMI is a measure of growth in certain sectors of the economy with any value above 50 denoting growth.
Looking at each individual sector, there was a renewed expansion in manufacturing in Dublin which recorded a PMI reading of 53.7. The construction sector also saw accelerated growth with an index reading of 53.2.
In the residential sector, housing completions across Dublin reached a new high point during the third quarter, as almost 3,900 new homes were added to the housing stock. This represented an increase of 71.6% compared to the period from April to June.
In contrast, housing commencements declined by 19.9% but remained elevated with 6,056 new residential units under construction in the quarter.
These expansions, combined with continued growth in the services sector with a PMI reading of 51.5, meant that all three monitored sectors recorded growth for the first time since the end of June 2022.
The unemployment rate in Dublin rose marginally to 4.7% during the third quarter marking the first increase of the year. Employment levels across the Dublin economy continued to climb to reach a new peak of over 829,000.
The monitor is produced by Grant Thornton on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities.
Chief economist at Grant Thornton, Andrew Webb, said all sectors of the economy have contributed to “solid expansion in Dublin’s private sector activity” over the third quarter of this year and “employment in the capital has reached a new peak”.
