The Government was strongly criticised by Fine Gael yesterday after new employment figures underlined the sharp decline in the economy's fortunes, writes Chris Dooley, Industry and Employment Correspondent.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed the numbers in industrial employment fell by almost 12,500 last year, accelerating a decline which set in towards the end of 2001.
Fine Gael's finance spokesman, Mr Richard Bruton, said there now fewer people employed in industry than when the Fianna Fáil-PD Coalition came to power in 1997.
The figures provide stark evidence of the ongoing downturn in the manufacturing sector.
Job numbers in manufacturing electrical equipment alone fell by 8,400, to 56,000, during 2002.
There was also a significant drop in the number of people employed in textile manufacturing, from 8,300 to 7,600.
Electrical goods and textiles are two of the areas most threatened by competition from low-wage economies elsewhere.
Declines in job numbers were recorded in a number of other manufacturing areas including leather, machinery, paper products, plastic, rubber and transport equipment.
The overall drop of 12,400 jobs meant there were 252,400 people in industrial employment at the end of the year, down from a high of 271,000 two years ago.
Mr Bruton said the figures illustrated the serious competitive squeeze being suffered by Irish businesses and reinforced the "very pessimistic" survey carried out by the Small Firms Association (SFA).
The SFA said at the weekend that job-creation prospects were the worst they had been for more than a decade, following a survey of its members.
There was better news for workers with confirmation yesterday from another set of CSO figures, which showed average industrial earnings increased last year by 7.3 per cent. Average weekly earnings for all employees rose by 6.2 per cent, comprising the 7.3 per cent increase for industrial workers and a 4.7 per cent rise for clerical and managerial employees.
Wage increases overall were lower than they had been in 2001.
However, IBEC, the employers' body, said export growth would continue to suffer unless there was a further moderation in the pace of wage rises as higher costs had reduced competitiveness.
