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| Source: CSO |
The CSO published the latest Quarterly National Household Survey results, today.
Construction and Health sectors fuel employment growth
There were 2,066,100 persons in employment in the Irish economy, in the fourth quarter of 2006, representing an increase of 85,500 or 4.3% in the year. This compares to an annual growth rate of 4.2% in the previous quarter and to a rate of 4.6% in the fourth quarter of 2005. The strong growth in the Construction (+28,400) and the Health (+18,700) sectors accounted for just over 55% of the annual increase in the numbers employed.
There were 126,100 employed in the Construction Sector in early 1998 according to the CSO.
Over one-third of labour force growth attributable to migrants from the new EU Member States
Tentative estimates of the labour force status of Non-Irish nationals are presented in the release. There was an estimated 301,100 foreign nationals aged 15 years and over in the State in the fourth quarter of 2006. Of these, 215,500 were in employment while a further 14,300 were unemployed according to the ILO criteria. Nationals of the new EU Accession states were the fastest growing category (+30,400) accounting for over one-third (+28,300) of the overall growth in the labour force (+82,900). The number of persons from the new EU Accession states in the labour force was 93,600 in the fourth quarter of 2006. The number of Non-Irish nationals in the labour force from outside the EU also increased significantly from 51,500 to 69,300 over the year.
The main results are summarised below.
| Main results Q4 2006 |
Persons |
Change in year |
| Employment |
2,066,100 |
+85,500 |
| Unemployment |
88,700 |
-2,600 |
| Labour Force |
2,154,800 |
+82,900 |
Construction sector accounts for almost 60% of male employment growth
Employment in the Construction sector increased by 28,400 (+11.2%) to 281,600 in the year to the fourth quarter of 2006. The growth in the Construction sector was dominated by males (+27,900) and accounted for just over 60% of the total annual increase in the number of males at work.
Fall in the number of women unemployed
There were 54,200 males and 34,500 females unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2006. The number of unemployed males decreased slightly (-100) year on year while there was a decline of 2,500 in the number of unemployed females.
