Providing accurate employment and unemployment figures
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is carried out in the 28 member states of the European Union under EU legislation by national statistical institutes including the Central Statistics Office (CSO). It is an ongoing, year-round, large-scale, nationwide survey of households that gives us an accurate measurement of employment and unemployment in Ireland. It provides quarterly labour force estimates as well as other data on social topics.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) replaced the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) at the beginning of Q3 2017.
Employment
There was an annual increase in employment of 2.0% or 45,000 in the year to the second quarter of 2019, bringing total employment to 2,300,000.
| X-axis label | Numbers in employment (ILO) |
|---|---|
| Q2 15 | 2049.69162 |
| Q2 16 | 2126.67311 |
| Q2 17 | 2180.88687 |
| Q2 18 | 2255.00516 |
| Q2 19 | 2300.01523 |
| All persons in employment | |
| Q4 14 | 2025.2 |
| Q4 15 | 2085.4 |
| Q4 16 | 2163.5 |
| Q4 17 | 2230.8 |
| Q4 18 | 2281.3 |
Employment increased in 11 of the 14 economic sectors over the year (excluding Not stated). The largest rates of increase were recorded in the Transportation and storage (+8.6% or +8,400) and in Education (+7.8% or 13,000) sectors.
| NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector | Q2 2018 | Q2 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 106.493 | 100.858 |
| 2 | 274.691 | 282.551 |
| 3 | 145.734 | 146.27 |
| 4 | 298.117 | 297.879 |
| 5 | 97.42 | 105.775 |
| 6 | 177.126 | 181.087 |
| 7 | 115.273 | 117.878 |
| 8 | 110.706 | 112.909 |
| 9 | 141.199 | 139.098 |
| 10 | 103.687 | 109.654 |
| 11 | 105.575 | 111.816 |
| 12 | 166.648 | 179.689 |
| 13 | 285.951 | 288.05 |
| 14 | 116.61 | 119.844 |
| NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector | Q4 2017 | Q4 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 111.7 | 104.6 |
| 2 | 282.7 | 280.7 |
| 3 | 133.4 | 144 |
| 4 | 308.1 | 311.9 |
| 5 | 95.1 | 101.4 |
| 6 | 168.7 | 174.8 |
| 7 | 116.1 | 115.3 |
| 8 | 106.2 | 106.6 |
| 9 | 135.2 | 135.8 |
| 10 | 94.7 | 106.6 |
| 11 | 101.7 | 108.3 |
| 12 | 167.6 | 178.8 |
| 13 | 281 | 288.5 |
| 14 | 120.1 | 117.3 |
| 1 | Agriculture, forestry and fishing |
| 2 | Industry |
| 3 | Construction |
| 4 | Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles |
| 5 | Transportation and storage |
| 6 | Accommodation and food service activities |
| 7 | Information and communication |
| 8 | Financial, insurance and real estate activities |
| 9 | Professional, scientific and technical activities |
| 10 | Administrative and support service activities |
| 11 | Public administration and defence, compulsory social security |
| 12 | Education |
| 13 | Human health and social work activities |
| 14 | Other NACE activities |
Unemployment
Unemployment decreased by 13,600 (-9.4%) in the year to Q2 2019 bringing the total number of persons unemployed to 130,800. This is the twenty eighth quarter in succession where unemployment has declined on an annual basis.
Who uses these results?
Local and Irish government departments, bodies of the European Union and researchers with an interest in economic or social trends all use the results from this survey.
The results show the situation for Ireland at national and regional level which means that the survey is crucial to planning for the future of our country. In other words, the LFS helps those who make decisions to make better choices for everyone.
Important Safety Information for Survey Participants:
If the CSO calls you the telephone number that will appear on your phone’s screen will be 021 601 8989.
In addition to our local number, anyone who has missed a call from our call centre and wishes to make contact can avail of our Lo Call number.
Tel: 021 601 8989
Lo Call: 1890 998 958
Further information
Principal statistics
Releases and publications
Special modules
Methodology
StatBank interactive tables
Labour Force Survey Main Results
International comparison
Eurostat
General information
Email: labour@cso.ie
LoCall: 1890 313 414
Tel: (+353) 21 453 5491
On-line ISSN 2009-5112
