Employment trends: The total number of people at work has continued to rise, providing further evidence of a buoyant jobs market.
Total employment in the second quarter of this year was up 42,800 on the same period last year, according to new figures in the Quarterly National Household Survey from the Central Statistics Office.
The figures show that, after adjusting for normal seasonal highs and lows, employment in the second quarter was 2,000 up on the first three months of the year. Unemployment, as measured by survey, has also increased, up 2,100 on the year to 84,200 people. However long-term unemployment is down by 900 people to 26,300.
The figures point to continued strength in the jobs market, although the annual rate of employment increase at 2.4 per cent was down on the 2.9 per cent recorded in the first quarter. However, the rate of employment increase is well above what it was a year ago and some 85 per cent of the new jobs are full-time, a further positive indicator.
The figures show that 1.836 million people were at work in the second quarter - between March and May. While this is just 300 higher than the previous quarter, after adjusting for seasonal trends the quarterly rise in a more substantial 2,000. Unemployment, as measured by the survey, is 84,200, up 2,100 on the year.
This increased the unemployment rate to 4.6 per cent from 4.4 per cent in the previous quarter, though subsequent live register figures do not point to a consistent rise in unemployment. The biggest jobless increase in the survey is among younger people and is short-term in nature.
The figures show that many sectors of the economy are performing strongly. The housing boom has led to a 14,600 rise in construction employment over the past year, while many areas of the services sector are also buoyant.
There was a 9,900 annual increase in the financial sector, while employment in other parts of services rose by 14,300. Other notable increases were in the wholesale and retail trade (up 8,600) and in health (up 7,100).
The most notable loser was the hotel and restaurant sector, where total employment over the past year fell by 6,600 to 107,800 people. This appears to point to serious difficulties in the tourism industry, and confirms indications of a mixed season in this sector.
Meanwhile employment in manufacturing continued to decline, dropping by 5,500 over the year to just over 300,000, although there has been some small recovery in the past few months. The indications are that lower-value assembly manufacturing is under particular pressure as employment moves to lower-cost locations, with a hefty 14,300 drop in people classified as "plant and machinery operatives."
The regional breakdown of the figures shows a strong 20,000, or 4.5 per cent, increase over the past year in employment in the Border, Midland and Western (BMW) region. There was a smaller 1.7 per cent rise in the more prosperous Southern and Eastern region.
However, the CSO points out that some of the rise in the BMW region may reflect increasing employment in countries where people are commuting long distances to Dublin to work. In part reflecting this, there was a particularly strong increase of 12,300 in employment in the Border region, including Louth which is home to many commuters.