The latest Dublin Economic Monitor shows that while the city's economy has suffered considerably in the first five months of 2021, initial signs of recovery are emerging.
The monitor is published by the four Dublin Local Authorities - Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Fingal County Council.
Dublin's IHS Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed a further severe contraction in business activity during the first quarter of this year.
Construction was the most adversely affected sector as the ban on all construction work was enforced as part of Covid-19 restrictions.
Output levels in both manufacturing and private services also reduced considerably in the quarter. New order levels shrunk across Dublin businesses, but employment provided a rare bright spot as a minor increase in job creation was recorded in the quarter.
MasterCard figures showed that retail spending in Dublin fell by 3.9% on a quarterly basis and by 4% on an annual basis.
Discretionary spending in the likes of department stores, which more than doubled with the reopening of retail units in the third quarter of 2020, contracted by over 20% in the first quarter of the year and was the main contributor to the poor start to the year.
But the capital's labour market showed signs of recovery in the second quarter as the re-opening of the economy took hold.
Pandemic Unemployment Payment recipient numbers fell to just over 125,000 in May, and this downward trend will be expected to hasten as further sectors of the economy return to activity.
Today's monitor also showed that Dublin's housing market was highly active at the start of 2021, with over 2,500 transactions in January alone - the highest monthly total in over a decade.
Residential rents in the city declined for the first time in five years in the fourth quarter of 2020, supporting an anecdotal shift in rental activity away from Dublin.
Meanwhile, transport and travel continued to be disrupted across the first five months of the year.
Passenger journeys via Dublin Airport and on public transport remained at low ebbs, though use of the capital's road network has recovered to a large extent.
But throughput at Dublin Port is a longer term concern as a 21.5% quarterly decline was blamed on Brexit as trade volumes have shifted from Dublin Port to ports in Northern Ireland.
Andrew Webb, chief economist with Grant Thornton, said the latest Economic Monitor obviously reflects the sharp downturn in key economic indicators brought about by the pandemic restrictions in place since the start of the year, the tone is one of growing optimism for a strong second half comeback in economic performance.
"The labour market is showing signs of a bounce back as job postings climb and pandemic supports recede. Assuming a sustained lifting of restrictions, the excess savings and pent up demand among a large cohort will start to flow through Dublin tills, providing a shot in the arm for the region's economy," Andrew Webb added.
