The level of jobs advertised in Ireland's daily and Sunday newspapers over the second quarter is down 12 per cent compared with the same quarter for last year, according to the Bank of Ireland Business Banking's Job Index.
According to the index published this morning, the largest decline occurred in the public sector, which experienced a 26 per cent cut in job ads compared with the same quarter last year.
The decline was also felt in the private sector, although job ads were down but to a lesser degree, at 6.6 per cent, over the same quarter in 2002.
All sectors experienced a decline in recruitment activity in the quarter compared with the same period in 2002, with the exceptions of manufacturing - which increased by 7 per cent - and the professional sector, which experienced strong growth of 29 per cent.
The professional sector also showed strong year-on-year monthly growth (+22 per cent), continuing the positive trend seen in May.
Of the ten sectors measured by the Job Index, the IT sector experienced the largest decline of 42 per cent.
Dr Dan McLaughlin, group chief economist, Bank of Ireland, added that the decline in the number of jobs advertised in the health sector - down 36 per cent - seemed to indicate that the jobs boom in the public sector is over.
The Job Index is a measure of sectoral demand for labour in the Irish economy. Using Central Bank classification of sectors, the index tracks the number of jobs advertised in the Irish daily and Sunday newspapers.