Official statistics released today confirm the Irish economy suffered a sharp downturn in the third quarter of 2001 as companies scaled back their investment plans.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slowed to 3.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2001 after increases of 9.4 per cent in the second quarter and 12.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year.
Capital investment in the third quarter was minus 5.6 per cent compared to plus 2.4 per cent in the same quarter of 2000, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office.
Export and import growth slowed considerably in the third quarter reflecting the slowdown in the US economy which went into recession in the first half of 2001.
Exports rose by 5.3 per cent while imports were up 5.5 per cent in the third quarter compared with respective increases of 17.1 per cent and 11.7 per cent in the first half of the year.
Industrial output was up only 2 per cent on the same period of 2000 while agriculture was down 7.9 per cent due to the foot-and-moth crisis.
Evidence of the slump can also be seen in the rate of unemployment which rose to 4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2001, according to the latest Quarterly National Household Survey released today.
The rate of new job creation slowed to 2.9 per cent last year, compared with 4.7 per cent in 2000 and 6.3 per cent in 1999. The rate of employment growth moderated over the course of 2001 - from an annual increase of 3.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2001 to 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2001.