Workforce grows by more than 50,000

MORE than 50,000 people joined the workforce last year, figures reveal.

Full-time employment grew by 48,200, an increase of 2.7%, while 2,300 got part-time jobs last year, bringing the total of people in the workforce to over 2.28million, according to the Central Statistics Office’s labour force survey published yesterday.

The sectors that saw the biggest increases were administration and support services, with a rise of 11,900 people (up 12.6%), and construction with 10,600 (7.9%). Employers’ group Ibec’s economist Alison Wrynn said: ‘The positive numbers released show that employment in Ireland continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the EU.

‘Employment growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2018 and it is likely that this trend will continue, even if a deal on Brexit is reached. This is because we are now at a mature stage of the business cycle with the economy close to full employment.

‘Feedback from Ibec members suggests firms in certain sectors are operating below capacity, as they can’t find workers to fill vacancies. Increasing the number of employment permits and investing in skills, education and housing will help alleviate some of the shortages faced by these sectors.’

Unemployment decreased by 15,200 (down 10.5%) in the year to the fourth quarter of 2018 bringing the number of people unemployed down to 128,800.

This is the 26th quarter in succession where unemployment has declined on an annual basis, according to the CSO.