A BIG increase in employment in services and a sharp rise in the number of women at work were the main findings of the 1996 Labour Force Survey from the Central Statistics Office.

The number of people at work rose by 45,000 to 1,284,000, according to the survey carried out in April. The number of people unemployed fell by 1,000 to 190,000.

Employment in services rose by 47,000 to 798,000, while employment in industry increased by 4,000 to 350,000, giving a total increase of 51,000 in non-agricultural employment. But employment in agriculture resumed its decline, with a fall of 6,000 to 136,000. This fall reduced the overall increase in the numbers at work to 45,000.

Of the 1,148,000 people in non-agricultural employment, 40,000 were involved in State supported schemes, 1,000 less than in April 1995. When people in Government schemes are excluded, the numbers in non-agricultural employment rose by 52,000 to 1,108,000, made up of 807,000 in the private sector and 301,000 in the public sector.

The latest figures compare with an increase of 57,000 in the numbers at work in the 1995 Labour Force Survey - this figure was adjusted from the earlier estimate of 52,000. The latest figures show that employment in the private sector rose by 45,000, while public sector employment increased by 7,000 before changes in agricultural employment and the Government schemes are taken into account. However, the rise of only 1,000 to 246,000 in the numbers employed in manufacturing was well below expectations. Based on the quarterly industrial employment figures for March and June, an increase of around 11,000 was expected. CSO director Mr Donal Garvey described the 1,000 figure as "a suprise".

An examination revealed that employment in most sectors had increased in line with the quarterly figures. But there were two exceptions - animal slaughtering and the dairy sector - he said.

Because the Labour Force Survey is a yearly snapshot taken in April, the outcome can be influenced by unusual events at the time of the survey.

This year, because of the BSE crisis, there was a sharp fall in cattle slaughtering around the time of the survey - from 95,000 animals in three weeks of April 1995 to 30,000 in the same period of 1996, he explained. Overall employment in slaughtering and in the dairy sector was about 6,000 lower in 1996, be said.

Employment in the commerce, insurance and finance sector rose by 12,000 to 273,000, while employment in transport and communications increased by 4,000 to 80,000.

A breakdown by gender shows that the number of women at work rose by 33,000 to 488,000, while the number of women classified as unemployed rose by 4,000 to 52,000. The number of men at work increased by 12,000 to 796,000 while the number of men out of work fell by 5,000 to 138,000. Women's participation in the labour force increased by two percentage points to 38 per cent.

The number of women employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing increased by 3,000 to 15,000, while the number of men employed in the same sector fell by 10,000. The number of women employed in professional services jumped by 14,000 to 155,000 compared with a rise of 8,000 in the number of men employed in this sector. A breakdown between full-time and part-time employment will not be available until January 1997.

Women moved directly from the "home duties" category - outside the labour force - into either employment or the retired category. There was a drop of 47,000 in the number of women in "home duties" and a rise of 21,000 in the number of women who are classified as retired. Figures for the level of unemployment differ sharply with the Live Register figures for April. The latest Labour Force Survey records an unemployment figure of 190,000, some 91,800 less than the Live Register figure of 281,800 at the end of April.

This difference between the figures was highlighted last year but the Government has argued that the Labour Force Survey is a better measure of actual unemployment. It considers the Live Register more an administrative measure and an unreliable measure of actual unemployment because it includes categories such as part-time workers who are claiming benefit and students entitled to claim during holidays.