Employment has risen by over 400,000 since low point of crash

The number of people employed in the Irish economy has risen by more than 400,000 since the low point of the crash in 2012.

The rapid turnaround was highlighted in figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which show employment here rose by 409,900 or 21.7 per cent in the six-year period up to the first quarter of 2019.

This brought total employment in the Republic to a record high of 2.3 million. The rise in full-time employment (+406,700) accounted for virtually all of the increase.

The figures are part of the CSO's Labour Force Survey series, the official source of data for employment and unemployment in the Republic.

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The latest numbers show that all economic sectors experienced an increase in the number of employees during the six-year period. The most notable increases were in the construction, which saw employment jump by 102 per cent or 48,600.

The number of self-employed persons, however, fell in seven economic sectors with the greater decreases occurring in the wholesale and retail trade.

The average “usual hours” worked per week in the first quarter was 36.4 hours compared to 35.0 hours six years earlier.

Education

Of the 14 sectors, assessed by the CSO, agriculture, forestry and fishing workers had the longest average working week at 49.5 hours while education had the lowest a at 30.7 hours.

Self-employed persons typically worked an average of 45.1 hours per week in the first quarter, while the corresponding number for employees was 35.2 hours.

Average

The average for workers in full-time and part-time employment was 40.7 and 18.6 hours per week respectively.

Commenting on the numbers, CSO statistician Jim Dalton said: "The LFS is the official source of data for employment in Ireland. "

Separate CSO numbers, published earlier this month, revealed the State’s headline unemployment rate stood at 4.4 per cent last month, down from 4.6 per cent in April.

This means there are now 108,200 people classified as out of work – a fall of 33,200 compared to the same month last year. Economists believe full employment is generally around the 4 per cent mark.