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 Limerick. 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 to 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 Limerick
People at Work/Unemployed
Almost 170,100 people living in the county in April 2022 were aged 15 and over and of these more than 90,600 people were at work. This was an increase of 17% (from the more than 77,100 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 8,600 people were unemployed in the county in April 2022. This was considerably lower than the 2016 figure of more than 12,900 people (a decrease of 34%). The unemployment rate was 9% compared with 14% in 2016. 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 28,500 retired people in Limerick, up 23% since Census 2016. There was a 15% increase in the number of people who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability to 9,808 people. The number of people looking after their home/family fell by 13% to almost 11,000.
The labour force participation rate was 58% in Limerick compared with 61% nationally. Among females the rate was 53% while for males it was 64%. Nationally the trend was similar at 56% for female labour force participation and 67% for males.
Most people in work in Limerick were in full-time employment, with nearly 65,300 people in this category, compared with nearly 12,300 who were working part-time.
Where people worked
The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest number of workers in the county at more than 12,500. Human Health and Social Work Activities was the next largest, with just over 11,500 workers followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade with more than 10,500 workers.
Less than half (49%) of the total Limerick city and suburbs workforce were usual residents. The largest commuter town was Ennis, with 1,140 people travelling to Limerick city and suburbs for work.
Working 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 90,600 people at work in Limerick in April 2022. Of these, over 52,000 never worked from home while almost 25,000 people worked from home at least some of the time.
Travelling to Work
There were 80,665 people travelling to work in the county in April 2022. The majority of these drove to work, with 49,996 people driving to work by car in 2022. There were 2,571 people travelling by bus, compared with 140 by train. Looking at active travel, 7,091 people walked to work, down from 7,095 in 2016, while 1,308 people cycled, an increase of 171 people since 2016.
Commuters in the county were travelling for longer in April 2022, with an average journey time of 25.6 minutes compared with 24.2 minutes in 2016. Nationally, the average journey time increased from 28.2 minutes to 29.1 minutes between 2016 and 2022. There were 17,866 Limerick commuters who had a journey time of less than 15 minutes, while 25,757 people had a journey time of 15 to 30 minutes. A further 5,216 people had a journey time of 60 minutes and over.
Travelling to School, College or Childcare
In Limerick, nearly 6,300 children aged under 5 travelled to childcare or school. Most of these (almost 5,000) travelled by car, while 888 walked and 80 went by bus.
Most of the 21,869 primary school aged children (5 to 12 years old) travelling to school in the county in April 2022 also travelled by car, with 13,235 doing so. Walking was the second most common means of travel at 4,373 children. A further 1,551 children used a bus while 289 children cycled.
Of the 15,272 secondary students (those aged 13-18 years) travelling to school, 6,828 were driven to school in a car, while 344 drove themselves to school. There were 4,066 students using a bus, and 16 using the train. A further 2,531 students walked to school while 235 cycled.
For the 9,769 third-level students commuting, driving was the most popular means of travel, at 3,121 people. There were 2,360 students who walked, while 1,447 used a bus. Another 112 students travelled by train, DART or Luas while 290 cycled.