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Swords has highest labour force participation1


Of the towns and cities with a population of over 10,000 in 2006, Swords in Fingal had the highest proportion (75.3%) of its population aged 15 years and over in the labour market.

This information is contained in Census 2006 Volume 7 - Principal Economic Status and Industries, which gives further detailed results of the census conducted on 23 April 2006. The report gives the final population figures classified by economic status, industrial sector, employment status and hours worked for detailed territorial divisions in the country (see Editor's note).


Navan (An Uaimh - 72.2%), Balbriggan (72%) and Naas (71.9%) also had high rates of labour force participation and this was reflected at regional level with the Mid-East region (66.5%) topping the regional authority areas in terms of labour force participation. Urban areas (63.9%) had a greater proportion of their adult populations in the labour force than rural areas (60.3%) while at State level the relevant proportion was 62.5 per cent.


1 The labour force participation rate is calculated by expressing the labour force (i.e. those at work, looking for first regular job and unemployed) as a percentage of the total.


Highest unemployment in Ballina


Ballina in County Mayo had the highest unemployment rate2 among large Irish towns, with 15.8 per cent of its labour force out of work. Tralee (14.2%) and Dundalk (13.9%) also had high unemployment at the time of the 2006 census while at the other end of the scale Malahide (4.3%) and Leixlip (4.4%) had the lowest rates. The unemployment rate was calculated using the responses to the question on Principal Economic Status in the 2006 Census. The national rate was 8.5 percent,with urban areas (9.5%) having higher unemployment than rural areas (6.9%).


2 The official unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2006 as measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey using the ILO criterion was 4.3 per cent.


Killarney has highest proportion of hotel workers


Of the towns and cities with a population of over 10,000 persons in 2006 Killarney had the highest proportion of its workers (22.3%) involved in the hotel industry. Kilkenny (10.5%) was next in line.


Over one in five workers in Limerick city, Waterford city, Clonmel, Carrigaline and Midleton were involved in manufacturing compared with a national average figure of 12.6 per cent.


Swords (13.2%) and Balbriggan (10.1%) had high concentrations of transport workers while over one in ten workers in living in Malahide and Greystones worked in banking and financial services.



Construction activities male dominated


More than nine out of ten workers in the construction, defence, farming and mining industries were males while females dominated in hairdressing (90%), primary teaching (86.6%) and social work (85%).


Over one third of Tourism workers born abroad


Almost 36,000 workers in the hotel and restaurant sector (36.6%) in 2006 were born outside Ireland. Business activities and manufacturing had the next highest percentage of non-Irish born workers, each with over 20 percent. In the construction sector, 19.3 per cent of workers were born outside the state.


In absolute terms, the largest number of non-Irish born worked in manufacturing (49,000), followed by wholesale and retail trade (44,000) and construction (40,800).


Editor's note


The publication Census 2006 - Principal Socio-economic Results, released on 21 June 2007, contains a summary at State level of data from Volumes 7, 8, and 10 to 12 of the detailed census reports. The publication released today, Volume 7, provides figures for economic status and industries at a more detailed geographical level.


All published tables from Census 2006 are being made available on the CSO web site (www.cso.ie). Tables at Electoral Division, Local Electoral Area and small town level are being made available exclusively on the CSO web site.


For copies of the publication contact:
Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork. 021- 4535011
or
Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.
Price: €15 [Copies can also be downloaded from the CSO website (see below)].


For further information contact:


Shaun McLaughlin on 01-895 1474 or Deirdre Cullen on 01-895 1334.
Central Statistics Office, Swords Business Campus, Balheary Road, Swords, Co. Dublin.
Census Enquiries: (01) 895 1460/61/63/66
Fax: (01) 895 1399
E-mail: census@cso.ie
Internet: www.cso.ie

6 September 2007


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