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Number of people in employment hits record high – CSO
The number of people in employment increased by 68,600 or 2.7% to 2,574,500 in the year to the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the Central Statistics Office.
This is the highest number of people employed in the State since the CSO series began in 1998.
The latest CSO Labour Force Survey shows that the employment rate for people aged 15-64 years was up from 73% to 73.2% over the 12 months to the fourth quarter of 2022.
There were 112,000 unemployed people during the quarter with an associated unemployment rate of 4.2%, down from 4.9% the previous year.
Of those who were in employment, an estimated 203,700, or 7.9%, were absent from work during the reference week for reasons such as holidays, sick leave or maternity leave.
This compares with 252,100, or 10.1%, who were absent from work compared to a year earlier.
The largest percentage increases in employment were recorded in Administrative & Support Service Activities, up by 15.2%, and the Transportation & Storage sector which increased by 7.1%.
The largest decrease was in the Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector, down 5.7% or 6,100 compared with the fourth quarter of 2021.
There has been much focus on job losses in the tech sector in recent months.
Today’s figures show that employment in the Information and Communication sector fell by 2,200 or 1.3% compared to the previous year.
The numbers employed in Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities fell by 2,600 or 1.5%.
The Government has welcomed the employment growth figures.
“More people are employed in Ireland now than ever before,” said Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney.
“There is a strong pipeline of new investments from overseas and within Ireland in a range of sectors including tech and other sectors, and we expect many positive announcements in the coming months,” Mr Coveney added.
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said that figures showed a return to growth in the tech sector following a correction in the third quarter.
“Although challenges remain and some of the impacts of recent announcements are yet to be realised, the sector has undergone historic growth and employment remains at almost record levels,” Mr McGrath said.
Article Source: Number of people in employment hits record high – CSO – Brian O’Donovan – RTE
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