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Labour Force Survey Quarter 3 2024

Employment

The estimated number of people in employment in Q3 2024 stood at just under 2.8 million, up 3.7% compared with a year ago

Online ISSN: 2565-5728

CSO statistical release, 20 November 2024, 11am

Numbers Employed and Employment Rate

Using standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) criteria, an estimated 2,794,800 persons were in employment in Q3 2024, up 3.7% (98,600) from 2,696,200 in Q3 2023.

The increase of 98,600 (+3.7%) in employment is composed of increases of 51,400 (+3.6%) for males and 47,200 (+3.7%) for females in the year to Q3 2024.

The employment rate for those aged 15-64 was 75.3% in Q3 2024 compared to 74.2% in Q3 2023 and 73.3% in Q3 2022. In Q3 2024, the employment rate for males aged 15-64 years was 79.3%, compared to 71.4% for females. See Px-Stat Table QLF01.

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

50.9%

Youth employment rate in Q3 2024

this means that over half of those aged 15-24 were in employment in Q3 2024

and is the highest youth employment rate recorded since Q4 2008

Source: CSO Ireland, Labour Force Survey Quarter 3 2024

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
'000
ILO Economic Status		Q3 22	Q2 23	Q3 23	Q4 23	Q1 24	Q2 24	Q3 24
Males
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		1,460.3	1,475.4	1,495.2	1,493.9	1,491.3	1,518.0	1,542.4
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		1,400.2	1,408.5	1,426.4	1,433.8	1,431.9	1,448.2	1,477.8
full-time		1,222.9	1,238.6	1,246.3	1,235.8	1,233.6	1,260.4	1,284.5
part-time		177.2	170.0	180.0	198.0	198.3	187.8	193.3
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	135.7	120.0	131.0	141.9	148.4	133.2	138.3
	part-time, underemployed	41.5	50.0	49.0	56.1	49.9	54.6	55.0
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		60.2	66.8	68.8	60.1	59.3	69.8	64.5
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		46.4	52.9	51.8	46.9	46.5	53.5	47.5
seeking part-time work		11.4	12.2	14.6	11.4	10.1	13.4	13.8
seeking work as self-employed		*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		598.7	614.2	606.9	621.7	633.7	623.2	611.4
Potential additional labour force		35.4	49.4	42.3	47.8	46.4	59.3	58.7
Others		563.3	564.9	564.6	573.8	587.3	563.9	552.8
Total males aged 15 or over		2,059.0	2,089.6	2,102.1	2,115.5	2,125.0	2,141.3	2,153.8
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.2	4.6	4.6	4.1	4.0	4.6	4.2
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		70.9	70.6	71.1	70.6	70.2	70.9	71.6

Females
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		1,262.7	1,329.5	1,330.9	1,330.2	1,328.1	1,367.4	1,382.0
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		1,202.4	1,274.1	1,269.9	1,272.6	1,272.3	1,306.0	1,317.0
full-time		836.4	879.1	868.0	878.2	897.2	922.1	924.6
part-time		366.0	395.1	401.9	394.4	375.1	383.8	392.4
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	297.3	305.0	318.9	310.7	299.9	296.6	319.9
	part-time, underemployed	68.7	90.1	82.9	83.6	75.2	87.2	72.5
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		60.3	55.3	61.1	57.6	55.9	61.4	65.0
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		35.7	32.8	37.9	29.3	31.7	35.8	38.5
seeking part-time work		23.1	21.6	22.9	25.4	21.0	22.9	23.3
seeking work as self-employed		*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		879.6	850.9	857.7	872.9	882.5	861.4	853.7
Potential additional labour force		39.2	50.7	49.3	57.9	55.9	63.4	70.7
Others		840.4	800.1	808.4	815.0	826.7	797.9	782.9
Total females aged 15 or over		2,142.3	2,180.3	2,188.6	2,203.0	2,210.7	2,228.7	2,235.7
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.8	4.2	4.6	4.3	4.2	4.5	4.7
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		58.9	61.0	60.8	60.4	60.1	61.4	61.8

All persons
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		2,723.0	2,804.9	2,826.2	2,824.1	2,819.4	2,885.4	2,924.4
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		2,602.6	2,682.7	2,696.2	2,706.4	2,704.2	2,754.2	2,794.8
full-time		2,059.3	2,117.6	2,114.3	2,114.0	2,130.8	2,182.5	2,209.1
part-time		543.2	565.1	581.9	592.4	573.4	571.6	585.7
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	433.0	425.0	449.9	452.6	448.3	429.8	458.3
	part-time, underemployed	110.2	140.0	132.0	139.8	125.1	141.8	127.5
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		120.5	122.2	129.9	117.7	115.2	131.2	129.5
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		82.1	85.7	89.6	76.2	78.2	89.3	86.0
seeking part-time work		34.4	33.8	37.5	36.8	31.1	36.3	37.1
seeking work as self-employed		*	*	*	*	*	*	[6.5]
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		1,478.3	1,465.1	1,464.6	1,494.5	1,516.3	1,484.6	1,465.1
Potential additional labour force		74.7	100.1	91.6	105.7	102.3	122.7	129.4
Others		1,403.6	1,365.0	1,373.0	1,388.8	1,414.0	1,361.9	1,335.7
Total persons aged 15 or over		4,201.3	4,270.0	4,290.7	4,318.6	4,335.7	4,370.0	4,389.5
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.4	4.4	4.6	4.2	4.1	4.6	4.5
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		64.8	65.7	65.9	65.4	65.0	66.0	66.6

Employment rate % (Persons aged 15-64)
Male		78.9	78.0	78.5	78.3	78.0	78.1	79.3
Female		67.8	70.6	70.0	69.8	69.8	70.8	71.4
Total persons		73.3	74.2	74.2	74.0	73.8	74.4	75.3
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 an asterisk (*) 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.
²Data in this table incorporates updated population estimates based on the results of Census 2022. For further information see Background Notes.

Open in Excel: Labour Force Survey Quarter 3 2024 Table 2.1 (XLS 44KB)

Economic Sector

The economic sectors that saw the largest year-on-year increases in employment Q3 2024 were:

Professional, Scientific & Technical activities, which increased by 21,400 or 11.8%
Industry (B-E), which increased by 17,900 or 5.5%
Accommodation & Food Service Activities, which rose by 16,900 or 9.2%

The largest decreases in employment by economic sector in Q3 2024 were observed in:

Administrative & Support Service Activities; down 8,300 or -7.4%
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing, which decreased by 1,800 or -1.5%

Employment Status

The number of employees increased by 102,400 (+4.4%) in the year to Q3 2024 to 2,422,000, while the number of self-employed decreased by 500 (-0.1%) to 344,800.

The increase in overall employment of 98,600 in the year to Q3 2024 was made up of 94,800 (+4.5%) persons in full-time employment and 3,800 (+0.7%) persons in part-time employment. See Table 2.1.

Hours worked

The estimated total number of hours worked per week in Q3 2024 stood at 85.9 million hours, up by 2.4 million hours or 2.9% on Q3 2023, and up 3.9 million hours (+4.8%) on Q3 2022. See Fig 2.2.

Table 2.2 Total actual hours worked (millions) per week by Economic Sector, Quarter 3 2022 to Quarter 3 2024

Seasonally Adjusted Employment

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the numbers in employment in Q3 2024 stood at 2,785,000 after a rise of 37,400 (+1.4%) from the previous quarter. This follows on from a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter increase in employment in each of the preceding four quarters – 25,000 (+0.9%) in Q2 2024; 18,900 (+0.7%) in Q1 2024 and an increase of 15,500 (+0.6%) in Q4 2023.

The seasonally adjusted number of males in employment was up by 17,200 (+1.2%) over the quarter to 1,466,900 in Q3 2024, while the corresponding number for females was up 21,200 (+1.6%) to 1,317,900 over the same period. See 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 3 2024

Employment

Employment

The estimated number of people in employment in Q3 2024 stood at just under 2.8 million, up 3.7% compared with a year ago

Numbers Employed and Employment Rate

Economic Sector

Employment Status

Hours worked

Seasonally Adjusted Employment

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Table 2.2 Total actual hours worked (millions) per week by Economic Sector, Quarter 3 2022 to Quarter 3 2024
Millions of hours
		Q3 2022	Q3 2023	Q3 2024
A	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	4.3	5.0	4.9
B-E	Industry	11.9	11.3	11.6
F	Construction	6.5	6.1	6.4
G	Wholesale & Retail Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	9.6	9.5	9.4
H	Transportation & Storage	3.7	4.0	4.1
I	Accommodation & Food Service Activities	4.8	4.8	5.5
J	Information & Communication	5.8	6.3	6.5
K-L	Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities	4.4	4.5	4.5
M	Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities	5.5	5.9	6.6
N	Administrative & Support Service Activities	3.5	3.4	3.1
O	Public Administration & Defence: compulsory social security	4.4	4.4	4.7
P	Education	4.2	4.3	4.3
Q	Human Health & Social Work Activities	9.8	10.3	10.9
R-U	Other NACE activities	3.2	3.4	3.3
All sectors		82.0	83.5	85.9
Source: Labour Force Survey
¹Data may be subject to future revision.
²Reference period: Q3=July-September
³Data in this table incorporates updated population estimates based on the results of Census 2022. For further information see Background Notes.
⁴ Some data in this table are produced according to adjusted methodology. Please refer to the Methodological Note in this chapter.