Employment has increased by 2.4 per cent in the last year, according to the latest comprehensive employment statistics from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The figures for the second quarter of the year show unemployment is now running at 6.4 per cent.
Employment has been increasing in Ireland since 2012, following the economic and financial crash in 2008.
According to the Quarterly National Household Survey, 2,063,000 people were recorded as being in employment in Ireland. That is 48,100 more than the number recorded as in work this time last year.
The number of people recorded as unemployed fell by 46,300 in the same period. The rate of unemployment has seen a year-on-year decline since 2012. The overall unadjusted rate dropped from 8.6 per cent to 6.4 per cent over the last 12 months, according to the CSO while the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment is down from 6.8 per cent to 6.2 per cent over the last four months.
Decreases in employment
Information and communication technology (ICT) reported the strongest growth over the year. At the other extreme, agricultural, farming and fisheries saw the biggest decrease in employment rates.
The rate of youth unemployment has fallen from 19 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, to 16.5 per cent at the same time this year.
Part-time employment has declined by 29,700 (6.4 per cent) over the year.
The long-term unemployment rate fell from 4.4 per cent at the end of 2016 to 3.1 per cent over the year. Long-term unemployment accounts for just less than half of the total number of people unemployed.
The figures were welcomed by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, who said conditions in the labour market remained solid.
“We have now seen 19 consecutive quarters of employment growth, with the result that the level of employment is now at its highest since 2008. I particularly welcome the broad-based nature of the growth with gains visible across most sectors,” Mr Donohue said.
“Our job is to build upon these improvements and the Government will continue to put in place the framework conditions for continued employment growth to further stabilise the economy in the years ahead,” he added.
