Central Statistics Office figures show industrial employment levels fell by 18,100 or 6.7 per cent in the year to September
The number of people employed in industry has fallen to a five-year low, according to data released yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.
The figures show that industrial employment levels fell by 18,100 or 6.7 per cent in the year to September, with the sharpest decrease noted in the electrical equipment sector. The overall number of industrial jobs has declined to 252,800, a point last reached in mid-1997.
Between June and September alone, 3,200 industrial jobs were lost on a net basis, a quarterly drop of 1.2 per cent.
Bloxham chief economist Mr Alan McQuaid said the trend made sense in light of the numerous manufacturing job losses recorded this year.
"Services, particularly the public service, has provided the main impetus to growth," said Mr McQuaid.
A spokesman for IDA Ireland said yesterday that while 60 per cent of the jobs coming under its ambit are not industrial, similar annual declines were apparent in its numbers.
IDA-related employment numbers have fallen by somewhere in the region of 10 per cent this year, he said. At the height of the boom, the equivalent fall would have been between 4 and 7 per cent, according to the spokesman.
The IDA is optimistic on the prospects for job creation next year, expecting "thousands" of new jobs to be recorded, primarily in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and financial sectors. It is unlikely that these positions would qualify as "industrial" employment however, thus delivering no improvement to yesterday's data.
"We still see overall employment in decline but beginning to level out," the spokesman said.
Mr McQuaid believes that continued inflow of workers from abroad could cause employment problems as market conditions tighten next year. As with 2002, he expects services employment to be the source of any real growth.
Most forecasts for employment growth in 2003 are cautious. The Department of Finance is expecting expansion of just 0.6 per cent, after growth of 1 per cent this year.
In its latest economic commentary, Government-sponsored think tank, the Economic and Social Research Institute takes a similarly bleak stance.
Employers' group IBEC blamed the latest decline in the industrial numbers on poor market conditions and increases in the cost base of many businesses over the past three years.
IBEC senior economist Mr Aebhric McGibney said the Republic could not afford to allow business competitiveness to slip from the agenda.
"A vibrant business sector provides the long-term engine of growth for the economy," he said.
IBEC's competitiveness warnings come as further data shows average industrial earnings have risen by 6.9 per cent in the year to September. The increase, which is higher than inflation, leaves average industrial weekly earnings at €509.19.
Over the same period, average hours worked in industry declined by 0.8 per cent to 39.7 hours per week.
Data on construction employment, also published yesterday, shows that numbers working in the sector continued to shrink in October. The monthly index points to a 1.4 annual fall for the month, compared to a drop of 2.1 per cent in September.
