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Press Statement

Preasráiteas

23 June 2021

Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2021

Fall in numbers in employment and increase in absences from work result in 7.6 million fewer hours worked per week (-9.9%) in the year to Q1 2021
  • Results show that while employment fell by 5.0% to 2,230,600 in the year to Q1 2021, absences from work in the reference week were up by 48.5% to 309,500 and this resulted in a fall of 9.9% or 7.6 million fewer hours worked per week to 68.7 million hours per week in Q1 2021
  • At the end of March 2021, the COVID-19 Adjusted Measure of Employment is estimated to have been 1,785,923 with an associated COVID-19 Adjusted Employment Rate of 52.0%
  • By the end of May 2021, the COVID-19 Adjusted Measure of Employment is currently estimated to have been 1,921,085 with an associated COVID-19 Adjusted Employment Rate of 56.1%
  • There were 170,500 persons classified as unemployed in Q1 2021 with an associated Unemployment Rate of 7.1% for those aged 15-74 years
  • At the end of March 2021, the COVID-19 Adjusted Measure of Unemployment is currently estimated to have been 612,443 with an associated COVID-19 Adjusted Unemployment Rate of 25.7%
  • By the end of May 2021, the COVID-19 Adjusted Measure of Unemployment is currently estimated to have been 487,122 with an associated COVID-19 Adjusted Unemployment Rate of 21.9%

Go to release: Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2021

See: Infographic

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (23 June 2021) issued results from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for Q1 2021.

Commenting on the report, Jim Dalton, Statistician, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to have a considerable impact on the Irish labour market and that impact was first felt at the end of Quarter 1 2020. As the CSO is obliged to follow standard definitions and methodology when calculating the official estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), it has been decided to compile the Quarter 1 2021 LFS estimates in the usual way and provide separate COVID-19 Adjusted Estimates. This approach preserves the methodology of the LFS while at the same time providing transparency around the current impact of COVID-19 on the labour market within Ireland.

Using the standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) criteria, the unadjusted number of persons aged 15 years and over in employment fell by 5.0% or 116,600 to 2,230,600 in the year to Q1 2021. The greatest rates of decrease in employment in specific sectors were in Accommodation & Food Services (-43.6% or -73,900), Other Services Activities (-29.8% or -34,700) which includes arts, sports, entertainment & cultural activities and Administration & Support Services (-29.8% or -33,300). The Employment Rate for those aged 15-64 years was 65.6% in Q1 2021.

Absences from work in the reference week (e.g. temporary layoffs from work, family leave and holidays) have had a significant effect on the number of hours worked in the economy. While the numbers in employment fell by 5.0% in the year to Q1 2021, absences from work in the reference week were up by 48.5% to 309,500 and this resulted in a fall of 9.9% or 7.6 million fewer hours worked per week with 68.7 million hours being worked per week in Q1 2021. The impact on hours worked varied across the different economic sectors.  The number of hours worked per week in several sectors in Q1 2021 such as Public Administration & Defence, Education and Information & Communications were above the Q1 2020 levels. However, absences as a share of employment were highest in other sectors such as Accommodation & Food Services, Other Service Activities (recreation and culture) and Construction and the hours worked in these sectors was significantly lower in Q1 2021 than the levels from a year earlier.

When the effects of COVID-19 are considered, the COVID-19 Adjusted Measure of Employment, or lower bound of the number of persons aged 15 years and over in employment, is estimated to have been 1,785,923 at the end of March 2021 with an associated COVID-19 Adjusted Employment Rate of 52.0% for those aged 15-64 years. By the end of May 2021, these are estimated to have stood at 1,921,085 and 56.1% respectively.

Using the standard ILO criteria, the unadjusted number of persons aged 15-74 years who were unemployed in Q1 2021 stood at 170,500 with an associated Unemployment Rate of 7.1%.

Today, as part of the Monthly Unemployment Estimates release for May 2021, the CSO published COVID-19 Adjusted Unemployment Volumes and Rates for the end of March 2021 which corresponded to 612,443 persons and 25.7% respectively for persons aged 15-74 years. By the end of May 2021, these are estimated to have stood at 487,122 and 21.9% respectively.

In Q1 2021, using the standard methodology, the total number of persons in the labour force was down 2.5% or 60,800 to 2,401,100 from Q1 2020. The number of persons not in the labour force was 1,603,400 and that was up 7.1% or 106,800 from a year earlier.”

Commenting on the importance of sampled individuals taking part in the LFS, Jim Dalton, Statistician, added: “Following public health guidelines regarding COVID-19, our CSO interviewers will call to the householder only to ask them to take part. See Press Statement. Once the household has agreed to take part, the interviewer will conduct the interview over the phone. Households randomly selected will receive introductory letters by post giving them an option to ring the interviewer or the interviewer may call to their house to ask them to take part. These surveys give us a picture of the economic and social situation of the citizens of Ireland, in a way, and with a level of accuracy, that no one else can gain. If you are asked to take part in a CSO survey, please do so. It means that when CSO figures are quoted you know they’re accurate, Because you told us.”

Note to Editors

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of labour market statistics for Ireland including the official measures of employment and unemployment. These official measures are based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) concepts and definitions. The ILO measures are the international standard and all EU Member States are legally obliged to compile and provide this data to Eurostat on a quarterly basis.

A new framework regulation governing the production of the Labour Force Survey across Europe came into force on 01 January 2021. This has led to some minor changes to previously published series. Users should note that some further changes may be necessary by the end of 2021.

The methodology outlined in the Information Note published alongside the Q2 2020 LFS results on 24 August 2020 still applies to the LFS results for Q1 2021. Please see Information Note - Implications of COVID-19 on the Labour Force Survey - Quarter 2 2020 Update

For more information - https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lfs/labourforcesurvey

 

For further information contact:

Jim Dalton, Labour Market Analysis – 087-678-0316

For further information contact:

Martina O'Callaghan (+353) 21 453 5491

or email labour@cso.ie

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