Patterns of activity in Ireland’s consumer-facing service sectors: An experimental application of the Principal Component Approach

This work reflects the department’s ongoing efforts to develop new and approved data-driven approaches that can provide a more timely read on evolving sectoral pressures and assist the government in the monitoring of sectoral stresses (as and when these emerge).

The paper outlines one potential approach to building a high-frequency, data-driven alert system which over time will enable us to better detect early signs of distress in Ireland’s consumer-facing service sectors (specifically, hospitality, retail and tourism). This work is not an end-point but rather, it represents a first step in the development of new policy-relevant diagnostic tools. As such, further work will likely be necessary to refine and enhance our approach over time.