The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (05 December 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 7 – Employment, Occupations and Commuting. This press release highlights some of the main results for Clare. A full list of county press releases is available.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Dr.Tracy Clegg, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 7 covers the topics of Employment, Unemployment and Commuting providing statistics, analysis and data tables. The report looks at people at work or unemployed, occupations and industrial sectors as well as the commuting patterns of workers, students and children in school or childcare. New for Census 2022 are the additional topics of commuting for childcare and time leaving workplace, school, college or childcare giving more rounded information on travelling patterns as well as information on working from home.”
Some highlights for Clare
People at Work/Unemployed
Over 102,900 people living in the county in April 2022 were aged 15 and over and of these more than 56,100 people were at work. This was an increase of 13% (from the more than 49,500 people recorded as working in Census 2016). Nationally there were 2.3 million people at work in April 2022, which was up by 16%.
Almost 5,000 people were unemployed in the county in April 2022. This was considerably lower than the 2016 figure of more than 7,000 people (a decrease of 29%). The unemployment rate was 8% compared with 12% in 2016. Kilrush had one of the highest rates of unemployment (among towns with a population of at least 1,500 people), at 20%. It also had one of the highest rates of people looking for their first job, at 5%. Nationally there were almost 211,000 people unemployed compared with over 297,000 in Census 2016. The unemployment rate was 8% in 2022 compared with 13% in 2016.
There were more than 18,300 retired people in Clare, up 22% since Census 2016. There was a 25% increase in the number of people who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability to almost 4,500 people. Kilrush had one of the highest rates nationally of people unable to work because of this, at 12%. The number of people looking after their home/family fell by 11% to 6,565.
The labour force participation rate was 59% in Clare compared with 61% nationally. Among females the rate was 54% while for males it was 65%. Nationally the trend was similar at 56% for female labour force participation and 67% for males.
Most people in work in Clare were in full-time employment, with nearly 42,000 people in this category, compared with almost 8,000 who were working part-time.
Where people worked
The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest number of workers in the county at over 8,600. Human Health and Social Work Activities was the next largest, with over 5,900 workers followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade with more than 5,600 workers.
Working From Home
A new question was included in Census 2022 asking people whether they ever worked from home and if so, for how many days per week. There were more than 56,100 people at work in Clare in April 2022. Of these, over 33,200 never worked from home, while more than 16,500 people worked from home at least some of the time. Of those working from home, over 4,200 people did so for five days per week, with 2,885 doing so for one day and 2,575 for two days each week.
Travelling to Work
There were 49,330 people travelling to work in the county in April 2022. The majority of these drove to work, with 34,070 people driving to work by car in 2022. There were 713 people travelling by bus, and 104 by train. Looking at active travel, 3,014 people walked to work, up from 2,913 in 2016, while 528 people cycled, an increase of 29 people since 2016.
Commuters in the county were travelling for longer in April 2022, with an average journey time of 26.7 minutes compared with 24.5 minutes in 2016. Nationally, the average journey time increased from 28.2 minutes to 29.1 minutes between 2016 and 2022. There were 12,245 Clare commuters who had a journey time of less than 15 minutes, while 13,882 people had a journey time of 15 to 30 minutes. A further 3,875 people had a journey time of 60 minutes and over.
Travelling to School, College or Childcare
In Clare, over 4,100 children aged under 5 travelled to childcare or school. Most of these (over 3,500) travelled by car, while 359 walked and 15 went by bus and cycled.
Most of the 13,938 primary school aged children (5 to 12 years old) travelling to school in the county in April 2022 also travelled by car, with 9,119 doing so. Walking was the second most common means of travel at 2,383 children. A further 893 children used a bus while 205 children cycled.
Of the 10,182 secondary students (those aged 13-18 years) travelling to school, 5,084 were driven to school in a car, while 199 drove themselves to school. There were 2,670 students using a bus, and 44 using the train. A further 1,501 students walked to school while 106 cycled.
For the 4,790 third-level students commuting, driving was the most popular means of travel, at 1,730 people. There were 944 students who walked, while 700 used a bus. Another 654 students were passengers in a car while 130 students travelled by train, DART or Luas.