Irish consumer sentiment budges only slightly from 20-month low

DUBLIN, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 1 (Reuters) - Irish consumer sentiment rose a touch in November, a survey showed on Thursday, but its authors said it was not enough to be considered statistically significant as morale remained close to 20-month lows.

Irish economic growth is forecast to be the highest in the European Union for a third successive year in 2016 but recent data has been mixed against the backdrop of Britain's decision to leave the EU, a major risk to neighbouring Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's economy.

The KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index rose to of 97.8 from 97.3 in October, remaining well below the 15-year high of 108.6 hit at the start of the year when Irish economic indicators were overwhelmingly positive.

"A monthly change of 0.5 percentage points can't be regarded as statistically significant and suggests consumers remain cautious in relation to the general economic outlook and their own personal finances," KBC chief economist Austin Hughes said.

"The broader message is that Irish consumers are having considerable difficulty in assessing the extent to which their circumstances might improve or worsen in the coming year."

There were declines in three of the five elements of the survey and improvements in the other two, adding to the mixed economic picture, and Hughes said it was particularly surprising that the jobs outlook dropped to a to 28-month low.

Employment has consistently grown throughout the economic recovery and Ireland's unemployment rate fell further this week to 7.3 percent, less than half the peak of 15 percent hit in 2012 when the country was under an international bailout.

Hughes said the uncertainty over the jobs climate could be due to Brexit, the challenge a possible cut in U.S. corporate tax rate may pose to foreign direct investment in Ireland or deteriorating industrial relations. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Toby Chopra)