Youth employment at 16-year high as labour force continues to grow 

Across all demographics, the estimated number of people in employment, aged 15 to 89, during the third quarter, stood at 2,794,800, which was up 3.7% compared with a year ago.

The estimated total labour force stood at 2,924,400, which is an increase of 98,200 compared to last year.

The estimated participation rate was 66.6%.

Chief economist at Goodbody, Dermot O’Leary, said that there are two major sources of labour for the “ongoing, extraordinary rise in employment levels in Ireland”.

Over the last year, employment of Irish nationals grew by 2.3%, while employment of other nationalities grew by 9.6%

“This took the share of non-Irish employment to a new high of 20.2%,” Mr O’Leary said.

“While arrivals from Ukraine have played a role in this over recent years, it is the case that most migrants are coming to Ireland to fill relatively high-skilled jobs in numerous sectors,” he said.

Female participation at all-time high

Female participation in the workforce is at an “all-time high” of 61.6%, he said, and this is also contributing to overall employment growth.

The potential additional labour force for the quarter was 129,400.

The data show that the employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 was 75.3%, a slight increase of 1.1% compared to the same period last year.

Approximately 21% of people, or 585,700, work part-time, with 127,500 being classified as under-employed.

The number of self-employed people dropped by 500, year on year, to 344,800.

The largest increase in employment by economic sector was seen in professional, scientific, and technical activities, which increased by 21,400 people. The largest decrease in employment was in administrative and support service activities, which were down 8,300 year on year.

The estimated total number of hours worked per week increased by 2.4m, or 2.9%, to 85.9m.

The largest increase was seen in the accommodation and food services sector, with 700,000 more hours logged compared to last year.

The unemployment rate stood at 4.5% for the quarter.

There were 27,100 people in long-term unemployment, a decrease of 4,200.