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| Source: NTC Economics |
The CSO reported today that employment in private firms (with five or more persons engaged) in the construction industry decreased by 0.2% in May 2007 by comparison with May 2006. The monthly employment index decreased from 109.0 in May 2006 to 108.8 in May 2007.
The final figure for April 2007 showed a decrease of 0.1% when compared with April 2006.
Also today, Ulster Bank said that 30,000 jobs will be lost in the construction sector in the next two to three years, according to Ulster Bank.
In an economic analysis the bank says it believes a slowdown in the construction sector will add to unemployment. It is forecasting that as a result the jobless rate could reach 5% by the end of next year.
The bank says that despite a feeling that 'the economy is going down the tubes', the opposite is the case, and it expects strong economic growth this year and next.
There were 282,000 employed in the construction sector at the end of 2006 compared with 126,100 in the Spring of 1998.
It was reported last Monday that activity in the Irish construction sector declined for the first time in almost four years in June. Moreover, at 46.8, the Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – a seasonally adjusted index designed to measure the overall performance of the construction economy – suggested the fall in activity was marked. Reports from firms indicated that the decline reflected a further reduction in new orders (new work fell for the third month in a row). Some firms linked lower activity levels to particular weakness in the housing sector.
Data for June signalled the sharpest fall in housing activity at construction firms since the survey began in June 2000. Almost 39% of firms noted a fall in work on residential projects since the previous month. Commercial and civil engineering activity continued to rise in June, but at markedly slower rates than in the previous month. Commercial remained the best performing construction area, despite recording its slowest growth since March 2004.
