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 Longford. 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 |
-- ENDS --
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 Longford
People at Work/Unemployed
More than 37,000 people living in the county in April 2022 were aged 15 and over and of these almost 19,700 people were at work. This was an increase of 30% (from the almost 15,200 people recorded as working in Census 2016) – the highest rate of increase in the country. There were 2.3 million people at work nationally in April 2022, which was up by 16%.
Almost 2,400 people were unemployed in the county in April 2022. This was considerably lower than the 2016 figure of more than 3,700 people (a decrease of 36%). The unemployment rate was 11% compared with 20% in 2016. This was the joint highest rate in the country. There were almost 211,000 people unemployed nationally compared with over 297,000 in Census 2016. The unemployment rate was 8% in 2022 compared with 13% in 2016.
There were almost 6,000 retired people in Longford, up 24% since Census 2016. There was a 30% increase in the number of people who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability to 2,147 people. The number of people looking after their home/family fell by 7% to almost 2,700.
The labour force participation rate was 60% in Longford compared with 61% nationally. Among females the rate was 54% while for males it was 66%. Nationally the trend was similar at 56% for female labour force participation and 67% for males.
Most people in work in Longford were in full-time employment, with more than 13,200 people in this category, compared with almost 2,800 who were working part-time.
Where people worked
Manufacturing accounted for the largest number of workers in the county at almost 3,000. The Wholesale and Retail Trade sector was the next largest, with nearly 2,200 workers followed by Human Health and Social Work Activities with almost 1,900 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 nearly 19,700 people at work in Longford in April 2022. Of these, almost 11,800 never worked from home while more than 4,100 people worked from home at least some of the time. Workers in the county, along with those in Monaghan, were the least likely to work from, with 21% doing so. Of those working from home in Longford, almost 1,000 people did so for five days per week, with 686 doing so for two days and 678 for one day each week.
Travelling to Work
There were 17,779 people travelling to work in the county in April 2022. The majority of these drove to work, with 10,427 people driving to work by car in 2022. There were 230 people travelling by bus and 153 by train. Looking at active travel, 1,246 people walked to work, up from 1,193 in 2016, while 237 people cycled, an increase of 93 people since 2016.
Commuters in the county were travelling for longer in April 2022, with an average journey time of 28.8 minutes compared with 26.4 minutes in 2016. Nationally, the average journey time increased from 28.2 minutes to 29.1 minutes between 2016 and 2022. There were 4,680 Longford commuters who had a journey time of less than 15 minutes, while 4,243 people had a journey time of 15 to 30 minutes. A further 1,919 people had a journey time of 60 minutes and over.
Travelling to School, College or Childcare
In Longford, more than 1,300 children aged under 5 travelled to childcare or school. Most of these (almost 1,100) travelled by car, while 159 walked and 23 went by bus.
Most of the 5,281 primary school aged children (5 to 12 years old) travelling to school in the county in April 2022 also travelled by car, with 2,962 doing so. Walking was the second most common means of travel at 825 children. A further 697 children used a bus while 38 children cycled.
Of the 3,712 secondary students (those aged 13-18 years) travelling to school, 1,346 were driven to school in a car, while 50 drove themselves to school. There were 1,381 students using a bus, and 25 using the train. A further 511 students walked to school while 30 cycled.
For the 1,541 third-level students commuting, driving was the most popular means of travel, at 343 people. There were 246 students who walked, while 194 used a bus. Another 154 students travelled by train, DART or Luas while 16 cycled.