30/7/15: Irish 1Q 2015 Growth: Sectoral Contributions

Some very strong headline figures on Irish growth in 1Q 2015 are out today from the CSO so I will be blogging on these in a number of posts today.

To start with, let's take a look at data on GDP composition at Factor Cost - in other words, contributions of various economic sectors to GDP on output side of the National Accounts. The analysis below references real GDP (adjusted for prices changes).

In 1Q 2015:

• Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector posted growth in output of 5.8% y/y. This contrasts with growth of 21.0% recorded y/y in 4Q 2014 and with 16.5% expansion y/y in 1Q 2014. This is the slowest growth in the sector since Q3 2013. Overall, in annual terms, the sector accounted for 2.02% contribution to the overall GDP growth (Factor Cost GDP) or EUR50 million y/y (compared to EUR194 million added by the sector in 4Q 2014). The sector was the second smallest contributor to growth in GDP (at Factor Cost) in 1Q 2015 after Building & Construction. Quarterly growth in the sector was negative: in 1Q 2015 Agriculture et al sector shrunk (on seasonally-adjusted basis) by 30% compared to 4Q 2014 and this contrasts with 25.4% growth q/q recorded in the sector in 4Q 2014.
• Industry (ex-Building & Construction) grew strongly in 1Q 2015, posting y/y expansion of 9.63% compared to 8.71% expansion in 4Q 2014 and 0.56% growth in 1Q 2014. This marks 1Q 2015 as the fastest growth quarter (y/y terms) since Q3 2014 and the second fastest growth quarter (y/y) since Q4 2010. As the result, the sector accounted for 39.1% of all growth recorded in GDP (at Factor Cost) in 1Q 2015. The sector was the single largest contributor to GDP (at Factor Cost) growth in 1Q 2015. A caveat here is that this sector growth is strongly influenced by the MNCs, especially Pharma, Bio and Medical Devices sectors, but more on this when I am covering external sectors performance in subsequent posts. Quarter on quarter growth in Industry (ex-Building & Construction) was much less impressive than annual growth rates. In 1Q 2015, Industry contribution to GDP actually was negative on q/q basis at -0.31% compared to 5.16% growth recorded q/q in 4Q 2014 and 3.35% growth recorded q/q in 1Q 2014.
• Building and Construction sector posted positive y/y growth of 3.26% in 1Q 2015, which contrasts positively with a -0.16% contraction y/y posted in 4Q 2015. However, 1Q 2015 y/y growth was much weaker than 9.66% growth recorded in the sector in 1Q 2014. Overall, Building & Construction sector contribution to growth in GDP (at Factor Cost) stood at 1.38% in 1Q 2015 - the smallest positive contributor to growth in 1Q.
• Distribution, Transport, Software & Communication (DTSC) sector made a strong contribution to growth in 1Q 2015, with activity up 6.5% y/y. The rate of annual growth is relatively steady in the sector, having posted growth of 5.4% in 4Q 2014 and 5.93% growth in 1Q 2014. The sector accounted for 29.1% of total growth in GDP (at Factor Cost) in y/y terms. The caveat applying to these figures is that the sector includes many ICT-related MNCs which have been recently posting growth in tax optimisation-linked activities. Quarterly growth in the sector was also positive, with 1Q 2015 activity up 2.11% on 4Q 2014, after posting growth of 1.05% q/q in 1Q 2014.
• Public Administration & Defence (PAD) sector posted another quarter of annual contraction in activity, shrinking -5.52% y/y in 1Q 2015 after posting -3.09% decline in 4Q 2014. In contrast, the sector expanded by 2.21% in 1Q 2014. Overall, sector made negative contribution of -3.4% to annual GDP (at Factor Cost) growth in 1Q 2015. This marks the largest contraction in annual growth rates in the sector since 2Q 2012.
• Other Services (including rents) sector posted another quarter of steady growth, rising 4.42% y/y in 1Q 2015, having previously posted growth of 4.40% in 4Q 2014 and 4.12% in 1Q 2014. Sector contribution to overall growth in GDP (at Factor Cost) was 30.1% - second largest after Industry ex-Construction.

Chart below summarises sectoral shares of GDP growth in 1Q 2015:

The above clearly shows that the bulk of growth in 1Q 2015 by sector must be compared against growth in exports to attempt to control for MNCs activities before drawing any conclusions about headline growth figures anchoring to the real economy. I will do this in subsequent posts, so stay tuned.

Overall, real GDP at Factor Cost posted growth of 6.1% y/y in 1Q 2015 - a healthy figure compared to 5.28% growth recorded in 4Q 2014 and to 3.87% y/y expansion in 1Q 2014. Thus annual rate of growth accelerated in 1Q 2015 compared to 4Q 2014 and to growth a year ago.  Overall, sectoral activity expanded GDP by EUR2.47 billion in 1Q 2015 compared to growth of EUR2.176 billion in 4Q 2014.

As chart above shows, annual growth rate is currently running above the period average (2012-present) and marks statistically significant rate of annual growth. Which is very good news.

On a quarterly basis, GDP (at Factor Cost) grew by a more modest 0.74% quarterly rate in 1Q 2015, slightly slower than in 4Q 2014 when it expanded 0.79% q/q and much slower than in 1Q 2014 when it grew at 1.57% q/q.  This marks 1Q 2015 as the slowest quarter over the 5 consecutive quarters and the second slowest in 8 consecutive quarters.

Longer-term trends:

Based on annual rates of growth and levels performance, Irish real GDP (at Factor Cost) is on a renewed positive trend. Once again - good news.

Stay tuned for more analysis of the National Accounts figures in subsequent posts.

11/12/2014: QNA Q3 2014: Sectoral Activity

Here is the first post on QNA detailed analysis, covering sectoral distribution of activity in Q3 2014.

Note: I covered top level results here: http://trueeconomics.blogspot.ie/2014/12/11122014-q3-2014-irish-growth-broadly.html

Based on seasonally unadjusted data expressed in constant prices (real terms).

Overall all sectors output amounted to EUR40.868 billion in Q3 2014 which is 3.44% higher than in Q3 2013. This marks a significant slowdown on Q2 2014 growth that clocked at 6.53% y/y, but is marginally above Q1 2014 y/y growth at 3.23%.

For the first nine months of 2014, output of all sectors is up 4.41% compared to the same period in 2013. A very healthy number, albeit moderated by the following factors:

1. ESA2010 application is boosting (superficially) business activity relating to R&D allocations, now counted as investment; 
2. Ongoing shift in MNCs patterns of activity here, including (but not limited to) outsourcing of production; and
3. Ongoing shift of the externally trading economy in favour of ICT services, heavily reliant on profit shifting and tax optimisation.

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector output stood at EUR989 million in Q3 2014, which is down 1.59% y/y - the worst performance since Q2 2013. In Q2 2014 y/y growth in the sector was massive 12.43% and in in Q1 2014 it was 3.74%. Over the first nine months of 2014, activity in the sector expanded 5.47% y/y.

Industry, including Construction, output stood at EUR10.281 billion in Q3 2014, which is up 1.96% y/y - a slowdown on Q2 2014 growth rate of 6.47% but an improvement on Q1 2014 decline of 4.97%. Over the first nine months of 2014, activity in the sector expanded only 1.11% y/y, which is weak. Meanwhile, Building & Construction sub-sector output stood at EUR895 million in Q3 2014, which is up 7.31% y/y - a slowdown on Q2 2014 growth rate of 9.54% and on Q1 2014 growth of 9.73%. Q3 2014 growth is the weakest since Q1 2013. Over the first nine months of 2014, activity in the sector expanded 8.76% y/y, which is ok-ish, given abysmally low levels of overall activity. Current level of activity is comparable to Q1-Q3 1997.

Distribution, Transport, Software & Communications output stood at EUR10.832 billion in Q3 2014, which is up 6.39% y/y - a healthy reading. Nonetheless, Q3 growth represents a slowdown on Q2 2014 growth rate of 11.46% and on Q1 2014 growth of 10.67%. Over the first nine months of 2014, activity in the sector expanded by a hefty 9.4% y/y, which is a good news.

Public Administration and Defence output stood at EUR1.572 billion in Q3 2014, which is down 1.26% y/y, against Q2 2014 growth rate of 3.75% and on Q1 2014 growth of 3.67%. Over the first nine months of 2014, activity in the sector expanded by 2.02% y/y in real terms.

Other Services (including rents) output stood at EUR17.622 billion in Q3 2014, which is up 3.67% y/y, against Q2 2014 growth rate of 2.69% and on Q1 2014 growth of 3.85%. So this sector showed acceleration in y/y growth rates. Over the first nine months of 2014, activity in the sector expanded by 3.48% y/y in real terms.

Summary of changes y/y is shown below in the table.

In summary: only one sector of the economy posted higher rates of growth in Q3 2014 compared to Q2 2014. Two sectors of the economy posted declines in activity y/y against four sectors that posted increased activity. This contrasts with all sectors posting growth in Q2.

Stay tuned for further analysis of QNA figures later tonight.

4/7/2014: Q1 2014: Sectoral Growth Decomposition

In the previous post I covered the revisions to our GDP and GNP introduced by the CSO. Setting the caveats set out in this discussion aside, what are the core underlying dynamics in the National Accounts?

Let's deal with sectoral distribution of output, expressed in constant factor cost terms:

• Agriculture, forestry & fishing sector output registered EUR1.042 billion in Q1 2014, which is up 11.2% on Q1 2013. Pricing effects contribute to the improvement which is now running at double digits y/y for three quarters consecutively. Compared to Q1 2011, output in this sector is up 15.3%, although activity remains below 2006-2007 average (some -6.5% lower).
• Industry output is at EUR11.462 billion, which is 2.1% ahead of Q1 2013. This marks first quarter of increases and the pace of expansion is not exactly fast. Compared to Q1 2011 output in the Industry is up only 2.9% and compared to @006-2007 average it is down 9%.
• Distribution, Transport, Software and Communication sector activity is at EUR9.775 billion in Q1 2014, up 8.0% y/y, marking the first quarter of increases after four consecutive quarters of y/y declines. The sector is down 2.5% on Q1 2011 and is -7.8% below 2006-2007 average.
• Public Administration and Defence sector activity is at EUR1.495 billion in Q1 2014, down 2.0% y/y for 21st consecutive quarter of y/y decreases. The sector is now down 7% on Q1 2011 and 16.6% below activity in 2006-2007.
• Other Services (including Rents) are up at EUR17.064 in Q1 2014, a rise of 3.9% y/y and marking 12th consecutive quarter of increases. Sector activity is now up 11% on Q1 2011 and is up 10.2% on 2006-2007 levels. All of this is down to MNCs operating in ICT services sector and much of the increase on 2006-2007 levels is accounted for by tax optimisation, not by real activity.
• Within Industry, Building & Construction sub-sector posted EUR0.719 worth of activity in Q1 2014, which is 7.6% ahead of Q1 2013, marking a slowdown in the rate of growth from Q2-Q4 2013. The sub-sector now posted expansion over the last 6 consecutive quarters. Still, Q1 2014 activity is 4.8% behind Q1 2011 and is down 57.1% on 2006-2007 average.
• Also within Industry, Transportable Goods Industries and Utilities sub-sector activity registered at EUR10.744 billion in Q1 2014 - an increase of 1.8% y/y and the first quarter of expansion. The sub-sector activity is now up 3.4% on Q1 2011 and is basically unchanged on 2006-2007 average.

So in the nutshell, only two sectors activity is currently running at above 2006-2007 average levels: Other Services (aka ICT Services MNCs) and Transportable Goods Industries & Utilities. All other sectors are running below 2006-2007 levels.

Charts below illustrate y/y growth rates in the sectors:

14/6/2014: Industry vs ICT Services: Employment in Ireland

Changes in Industrial vs ICT services employment have been dramatic over the recent years. In the decade from 2003, Ireland gained 18,250 new jobs in ICT services and lost 63,425 jobs in Industry (excluding construction). This is just based on annual averages.

In Q1 2014 compared to Q1 2003, there were 19,100 new jobs added in ICT Services and 66,800 jobs lost in Industry.

Here's the problem:

1. ICT jobs involve hiring of foreign staff and intra-company transfers from abroad, Industry jobs involve more indigenous workers;
2. Both types of jobs require specialist skills, but transferability of these skills across various employers is much lower in Industry than in ICT Services, so a job lost in Industry is more likely to lead to long-term unemployment than a job lost in ICT
3. Workers in industrial employment are more likely to be older, compared to workers in ICT Services, which means that their retraining for new careers is less likely and their debt and family exposures are more likely to be significantly larger than for ICT Services workers

16/9/2013: More pesky stuff on PMIs v Reality...

Readers of this blog would know that I have been skeptical about the Purchasing Manager Indices capacity to accurately track changes in the economic output, especially during the times of unstable trend or trend shift. The latest on the topic was recently covered here: http://trueeconomics.blogspot.ie/2013/09/1092013-pmi-and-real-economy-goldman.html

And here's the handy chart from Pictet neatly highlighting the same problem:

Not being a conspiracy theorist, I would not suggest that latest changes in Markit reporting of PMIs - and in particular dramatic shift away from actually providing broader public and analysts community with some hard numbers and in favour of providing more 'interpretations' of the data plus often unreadable charts has anything to do with the breakdown in PMIs correlations with actual activity... but it would be nice to have more accurate and data-focused releases.

Note: full Pictet note on industrial production in the euro area is here: http://perspectives.pictet.com/2013/09/13/euro-areas-industrial-production-data-back-to-reality/