The Irish workforce increased by 113,400 in the third quarter, with the total number of people in employment now ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
The exceptionally strong increase measured in the CSO Labour Force Survey shows the number at work has reached 2.47m, some 15,000 above the same period in 2019.
Increased employment levels resulted in 4.3 million extra hours worked per week (+6.0%) in Q3 2021 compared to Q3 2020https://t.co/8SJmXjrf6l #CSOIreland #Ireland #LabourForceSurvey #LabourForce #Households #Families #IrishFamilies #IrishHouseholds #LabourMarket pic.twitter.com/cVHxd7kodw
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) November 25, 2021
The 113,400 jobs was the largest number of jobs created in a single quarter in the 24-year history of the survey.
Austin Hughes, chief economist at KBC, said the 4.2% quarter-on-quarter pace of jobs growth in Ireland dwarfed the increase measured by other countries, including the US, UK and the euro area.
According to the CSO, the increased employment levels meant the number of hours worked per week is up 4.3m hours in the year to the end of September to 77.1m hours per week, a slight increase from 77m hours per week in 2019.
Employment increased across all sectors, with the largest rates of increase in accommodation and food service, which saw an extra 39,400 people in employment as restrictions on the hospitality sector were eased. The surge in the number of people returning to work saw the unemployment rate fall to 5.5% from 7.3% in the second quarter. However, the unemployment rate remains above the 4.7% reading recorded at the start of 2020.
Mr Hughes said the surge in jobs growth echoes other indicators ranging from activity surveys to tax receipts that point towards a marked step-up in domestic activity as the year progressed but said the unemployment rate remained above pre-pandemic levels.
“This suggests some rationale for ongoing supports, particularly in circumstances where many of those whose employment circumstances have been buffeted by the pandemic are under increased threat from the economic fallout of the latest surge in Covid cases,” he said.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the employment figures were “very encouraging” and said they were consistent with other indicators including the 170,000 fall in PUP numbers in the third quarter and the strength of income tax receipts.
“I am confident that, once we overcome the fourth wave of the virus, our economy and our jobs market will continue to strengthen,” he said.
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