To offset the bad taste of that nasty green jersey article, I’ll note some good news about the Irish economy. On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment rose by 10,000 or about 0.6%, the first increase since 2007:Q4.

See that slight uptick at the bottom of the graph below? it’s not much but perhaps it’s the start of a long road back. Anyway, at a time when most economies in Europe contracted, this is fairly surprising news. Perhaps the fourth quarter GDP figures might not be so bad.