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24th Aug 2023

Employment rate in Ireland at its highest since records began

Simon Kelly

Youth unemployment also took a drop this quarter.

The employment rate in Ireland rose to over 74% to 2.64 million people in the second quarter of 2023, which is the highest rate since the series of records began in 1998.

The most recent Labour Force survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) covering Q2 of 2023, shows that the number of people in employment increased by 88,400 or 3.5% to 2,643,000 from the first quarter of the year.

Another key point from the survey shows that employment rates for females is at its highest since 1998, at 70.5%.

During the pandemic, more women took on roles in the labour market, which is one of the main contributors to the record rise.

The figures from the survey show that the largest year-on-year increase in employment comes from the public administration and defence sector.

However, the largest decrease was in the agriculture, forestry & fishing sector, which recorded a 6.3% fall.

Youth unemployment takes a drop in new survey findings

Another big point from the survey, which released on Thursday, August 24, was that youth employment has risen. The rate among those employed aged 15-24 years was 12.2% in Q2, up from 11.4% from the same period last year.

The estimated Labour Force in Ireland has also seen a rise of 3.4% to 2,764,200.

559,100 or 21.2% of those in employment worked part-time, and around 1 in 4 of those in part-time employment were classified as underemployed.

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