Number of employed people rises to highest on record

The number of people in employment in Ireland has jumped to more than 2.5 million – the highest on record.

There are now 2,505,800 people aged 15 to 89 in employment, an increase of 12.3%.

The unadjusted employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 is 72.8%, according to new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) as it issued results from the Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of the year.

Employment increased across most economic sectors, with the largest rise in the accommodation and food service industry at 62.2%.

Employment in the sector is now at 162,600, but that remains below the first quarter of 2020 level of 169,500.

Meanwhile, the number of hours worked per week jumped by almost 18% to a record high of 80.8 million hours in the first four months of the year.

As Covid restrictions eased, there was a 17.6% rise in the number of hours worked per week.

This rise in the number of hours worked per week equates to an extra 12.1 million hours, bringing the number of hours worked per week to a record high of 80.8 million

The number of absences from work, temporary layoffs from work, family leave and holidays, during the reference week in the first quarter of this year was 168,100, the lowest level since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were 126,700 people classified as unemployed in the first four months of the year, with an associated unemployment rate of 4.8% for those aged 15 to 74.

Statistician Sam Scriven said: “The number of absences from work, including temporary layoffs from work, family leave and holidays, declined by 45.7% to 168,100, its lowest level since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This, together with an increase of 12.3% in employment, resulted in an increase of 17.6% or 12.1 million more hours worked per week to a record 80.8 million hours per week.”

The impact on hours worked varied across the different economic sectors.

The number of hours worked per week was higher than a year ago in almost all sectors.

The hours worked per week in the accommodation and food services sector, while still below 2020 levels, increased by 2.6 million hours per week in the last year.

In the first four months of the year, the total number of people in the labour force was up 9.6%, or 231,400, to 2,632,500 compared to the same period in 2021.

The number of persons not in the labour force was 1,431,000, which was down 10.8%, or 172,400, from a year earlier.

The Covid-19 adjusted measures of employment and unemployment, which have been published by the CSO, do not appear in Thursday’s results.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar told the Dail that the announcement of more than 2.5 million people at work was “significant”.

He added: “That’s more than ever before in the history of our State. We’re approaching full employment in Ireland, which is a job for everyone who wants one, which I think is a very positive thing.”

Speaking at a press event in Dublin on Thursday, he added: “We’re not going to rest on our laurels and we’re certainly not going to engage in self congratulation, we need to make sure that those jobs are being created all over the country, and it’s great to see that the biggest increases in employment were in the south east and the south west, not just in Dublin.”

There was a 13.6% increase in employment in the south east, and a 17% rise in the south west, Mr Varadkar told the Dail earlier.

“Also, we want to make sure that work pays, and that’s why we’re moving towards a living wage, bringing in statutory sick pay, and also auto enrolments so that everyone who works gets an occupational pension on top of their State pension,” he added.

Mr Varadkar also announced that a memo would be brought to Cabinet in June proposing the introduction of a living wage over the course of a number of years.