Irish economy rebounds 3.9% in second quarter

Ireland's economy returned to growth in the second quarter, expanding 3.9% after a 7% contraction in the first three months of the year, the Central Statistics Office said Wednesday.

The CSO said the second-quarter growth was driven mainly by an increase in the multinational-dominated information and communication sector.

Ireland's gross domestic product figures are volatile because major multinational companies, including pharmaceutical, chemical and US technology groups, have a large weight in the economy's measured output.

The CSO said the preliminary second-quarter estimate is subject to revision when more data sources are available in September. The European Union's statistics agency is due to release second-quarter GDP figures on Thursday.