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Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2025

Employment

Employment increased by 38,300 (+2.7%) for males and 51,600 (+4.1%) for females in the year to Q1 2025

Online ISSN: 2565-5728

CSO statistical release, 22 May 2025, 11am

Numbers Employed and Employment Rate

Using standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) criteria, an estimated 2,794,100 persons were in employment in Q1 2025, up 3.3% (89,900) from 2,704,200 in Q1 2024.

The increase of 89,900 (+3.3%) in employment is composed of increases of 38,300 (+2.7%) for males and 51,600 (+4.1%) for females in the year to Q1 2025.

The employment rate for those aged 15-64 was 74.7% in Q1 2025 compared to 73.8% in Q1 2024 and 73.7% in Q1 2023. In Q1 2025, the employment rate for males aged 15-64 years was 78.2%, compared to 71.2% for females. See PxStat table QLF18.

See Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data Sources outputs for employment estimates based on administrative data for employees.

45.3%

Youth employment rate in Q1 2025

Down from 47.0% in Q1 2024

Source: CSO Ireland, Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2025

Table 2.1 Persons aged 15 years and over classified by Sex and ILO Economic Status

Table 2.1 Persons aged 15 years and over classified by sex and ILO Economic Status ¹
'000
ILO Economic Status		Q1 23	Q4 23	Q1 24	Q2 24	Q3 24	Q4 24	Q1 25
Males
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		1,473.2	1,493.9	1,491.3	1,518.0	1,542.4	1,530.8	1,535.9
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		1,410.3	1,433.8	1,431.9	1,448.2	1,477.8	1,465.8	1,470.2
full-time		1,228.4	1,235.8	1,233.6	1,260.4	1,284.5	1,276.1	1,280.9
part-time		181.9	198.0	198.3	187.8	193.3	189.6	189.4
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	141.1	141.9	148.4	133.2	138.3	137.1	139.0
	part-time, underemployed	40.9	56.1	49.9	54.6	55.0	52.6	50.4
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		62.9	60.1	59.3	69.8	64.5	65.0	65.6
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		49.1	46.9	46.5	53.5	47.5	47.6	46.6
seeking part-time work		11.6	11.4	10.1	13.4	13.8	14.9	14.2
seeking work as self-employed		..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		610.5	621.7	633.7	623.2	611.4	636.0	642.0
Potential additional labour force		32.2	47.8	46.4	59.3	58.7	46.1	53.5
Others		578.4	573.8	587.3	563.9	552.8	589.9	588.5
Total males aged 15 or over		2,083.7	2,115.5	2,125.0	2,141.3	2,153.8	2,166.8	2,177.9
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.3	4.1	4.0	4.6	4.2	4.3	4.3
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		70.7	70.6	70.2	70.9	71.6	70.6	70.5

Females
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		1,290.8	1,330.2	1,328.1	1,367.4	1,382.0	1,361.7	1,382.4
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		1,242.4	1,272.6	1,272.3	1,306.0	1,317.0	1,310.6	1,323.9
full-time		853.5	878.2	897.2	922.1	924.6	919.6	919.9
part-time		388.8	394.4	375.1	383.8	392.4	391.1	404.0
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	317.4	310.7	299.9	296.6	319.9	317.7	323.1
	part-time, underemployed	71.5	83.6	75.2	87.2	72.5	73.3	80.9
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		48.4	57.6	55.9	61.4	65.0	51.1	58.5
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		32.4	29.3	31.7	35.8	38.5	27.7	30.3
seeking part-time work		13.6	25.4	21.0	22.9	23.3	20.8	25.5
seeking work as self-employed		..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		877.5	872.9	882.5	861.4	853.7	885.9	874.4
Potential additional labour force		47.7	57.9	55.9	63.4	70.7	67.6	64.5
Others		829.7	815.0	826.7	797.9	782.9	818.3	809.9
Total females aged 15 or over		2,168.2	2,203.0	2,210.7	2,228.7	2,235.7	2,247.6	2,256.8
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		3.8	4.3	4.2	4.5	4.7	3.8	4.3
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		59.5	60.4	60.1	61.4	61.8	60.6	61.3

All persons
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		2,764.0	2,824.1	2,819.4	2,885.4	2,924.4	2,892.5	2,918.3
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		2,652.7	2,706.4	2,704.2	2,754.2	2,794.8	2,776.4	2,794.1
full-time		2,081.9	2,114.0	2,130.8	2,182.5	2,209.1	2,195.7	2,200.8
part-time		570.8	592.4	573.4	571.6	585.7	580.7	593.4
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	458.4	452.6	448.3	429.8	458.3	454.8	462.0
	part-time, underemployed	112.4	139.8	125.1	141.8	127.5	125.9	131.3
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		111.3	117.7	115.2	131.2	129.5	116.1	124.2
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		81.5	76.2	78.2	89.3	86.0	75.3	76.8
seeking part-time work		25.1	36.8	31.1	36.3	37.1	35.7	39.7
seeking work as self-employed		..	..	..	..	[6.5]	..	[7.7]
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		1,488.0	1,494.5	1,516.3	1,484.6	1,465.1	1,521.9	1,516.4
Potential additional labour force		79.9	105.7	102.3	122.7	129.4	113.7	118.0
Others		1,408.1	1,388.8	1,414.0	1,361.9	1,335.7	1,408.2	1,398.4
Total persons aged 15 or over		4,252.0	4,318.6	4,335.7	4,370.0	4,389.5	4,414.4	4,434.7
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.0	4.2	4.1	4.6	4.5	4.0	4.3
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		65.0	65.4	65.0	66.0	66.6	65.5	65.8

Employment rate % (Persons aged 15-64)
Male		78.2	78.3	78.0	78.1	79.3	78.0	78.2
Female		69.3	69.8	69.8	70.8	71.4	70.6	71.2
Total persons		73.7	74.0	73.8	74.4	75.3	74.3	74.7
¹Estimates for number of persons, where there are less than 30 persons in a cell, are too small to be considered reliable. These estimates are presented with (..) in the relevant tables. Where there are 30-49 persons in a cell, estimates are considered to have a wider margin of error and should be treated with caution. These cells are presented with parentheses []. In the case of rates, these limits apply to the denominator used in generating the rate. In the case of annual changes, both the current year and the preceding year are taken into account when deciding whether the estimate should be suppressed or flagged as having a wider margin of error.

Open in Excel: Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2025 Table 2.1 (XLS 44KB)

Economic Sector

The economic sectors that saw the largest year-on-year increases in employment in Q1 2025 were:

Education, which increased by 21,500 or 9.3%

Financial, Insurance & Real Estate activities, which increased by 15,600 or 11.5%

Breaking these increases down to NACE division (2-digit level), the year-on-year increase seen in Financial, Insurance & Real Estate activities was primarily driven by increases in division 68 Real estate activities (+5,300) and division 65 Insurance, reinsurance & pension funding (+4,600). Education does not have sub-sectors at 2-digit NACE level. See PxStat table QES01.

The largest decrease in employment by economic sector in Q1 2025 was observed in:

Wholesale & Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles & Motorcycles; down 8,200 or -2.5%

This decrease was driven by a decrease of 19,000 persons observed in NACE division 46 Wholesale, except motor vehicles and motorcycles. See PxStat table QES01.

Extent of Working from Home

More than 6 in 10 of those in employment in Q1 2025 stated that they never work at home (1,749,600).

Of the 1,034,900 people who reported that they work from home at least some of the time in Q1 2025, 554,500 said that they usually (more than half the time) work from home, down from a peak of 846,700 in Q1 2021.

There were 480,400 people who sometimes (at least one hour in the reference period) worked from home in Q1 2025, which is the peak in the series.

Hours worked

The estimated total number of hours worked per week in Q1 2025 stood at 86.5 million hours, up by 1.0 million hours or 1.2% on Q1 2024, and up 0.9 million hours (+1.0%) on Q1 2023.

Table 2.2 Total actual hours worked (millions) per week by Economic Sector, Quarter 1 2023 to Quarter 1 2025

Seasonally Adjusted Employment

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the numbers in employment in Q1 2025 stood at 2,814,000 after a rise of 35,500 (+1.3%) from the previous quarter. This follows on from a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter decrease in employment of 4,300 (-0.2%) in Q4 2024.

The seasonally adjusted number of males in employment was up by 15,800 (+1.1%) over the quarter to 1,480,900 in Q1 2025, while the corresponding number for females was up 17,800 (+1.4%) to 1,332,600 over the same period. See PxStat table QLF03.

See Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data Sources outputs for seasonally adjusted employment estimates based on administrative data for employees.

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Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2025

Employment

Employment

Employment increased by 38,300 (+2.7%) for males and 51,600 (+4.1%) for females in the year to Q1 2025

Numbers Employed and Employment Rate

Economic Sector

Extent of Working from Home

Hours worked

Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Contents

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Table 2.2 Total actual hours worked (millions) per week by Economic Sector, Quarter 1 2023 to Quarter 1 2025 ¹
Millions of hours
		Q1 2023	Q1 2024	Q1 2025
A	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	4.5	4.6	4.6
B-E	Industry	11.9	11.4	11.5
F	Construction	6.0	6.1	6.1
G	Wholesale & Retail Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	9.8	9.6	9.1
H	Transportation & Storage	3.9	3.8	3.6
I	Accommodation & Food Service Activities	4.6	4.8	4.8
J	Information & Communication	6.1	6.0	6.5
K-L	Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities	4.7	4.6	5.0
M	Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities	6.0	6.6	6.5
N	Administrative & Support Service Activities	3.4	3.3	3.3
O	Public Administration & Defence: compulsory social security	4.8	4.8	4.9
P	Education	5.5	5.7	6.2
Q	Human Health & Social Work Activities	10.7	10.3	10.7
R-U	Other NACE activities	3.3	3.5	3.4
All sectors		85.6	85.4	86.5
Source: Labour Force Survey
¹Data may be subject to future revision.