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Irish Unemployment Hits 13 Year High

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:44:28 +0000

Unemployment in the Irish Republic hit a 13-year high of 11.9% in June – the highest level since April 1996 – and the number of people claiming for jobless benefits nearly doubled to 418,592 in the past year. Ireland has the second highest unemployment rate in the EU (behind Spain), a sboth countries are experiencing particularly severe downturns due to their heavy dependence on the housing market boom.

This followed the IMF’s grim forecast for the Irish economy just last week of a 13.5% contraction between 2008 and 2010.

Ireland Receives Bad Standard & Poor’s Rating

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:33:01 +0000

The Irish Republic (Ireland) received another round of bad news as Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service (S&P) lowered its sovereign debt rating for the second time this year. S&P cut the rating on Ireland’s government debt by one level to AA from AA+.

Just three months ago, the former ‘Celtic Tiger’ had its top-notch AAA rating lowered, as its public finances weakened as a result of the recession. The country, once revered for its robust growth, became the first eurozone country to fall into a recession last year.