The statistics presented in this chapter show developments in the Irish labour market and are based primarily on results from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The primary classification used for LFS results is the ILO (International Labour Office) labour force classification. This distinguishes persons aged 15 years and older into three groups - Employed, Unemployed and Inactive Population (not in labour force). The rest of the chapter contains mainly administrative data, compiled by the CSO, showing the trends in the number of persons on the Live Register as well as details of industrial disputes.
Interactive table: StatBank link
There were 1,798,700 persons in full-time employment in 2018 while the corresponding number for part-time employment was 456,300. Full-time employment accounted for 79.8% of total employment in 2018.
The total number of persons in the labour force in 2018 was 2,399,300, an annual increase of 57,900. The number of persons in employment increased from 1,878,000 in 2012 to 2,255,000 in 2018, an increase of over 20% in 6 years.
The overall unemployment rate decreased from 15.9% in 2012 to 6.9% in 2017 and stood at 6.0% in 2018. The number of persons unemployed in 2012 was 352,700 compared with 160,500 in 2017 and 144,300 in 2018. The number of persons unemployed decreased by 10.1% between 2017 and 2018.
| X-axis label | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| In labour force | 1295.7 | 1103.6 |
| In employment | 1215.5 | 1039.5 |
| Full-time employment | 1070.9 | 727.8 |
| Part-time employment | 144.6 | 311.7 |
| Unemployed | 80.2 | 64.1 |
| Not in labour force | 594.2 | 854.8 |
| Table 3.2 Industrial disputes: days lost in all disputes in progress during year | |||||||||
| Number | |||||||||
| Economic Sector (NACE Rev.2 ) | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | ||||||
| A | Agriculture, forestry and fishing | _ | _ | _ | |||||
| B-E | Industry | _ | 457 | 1,789 | |||||
| F | Construction | 466 | 133 | 2,090 | |||||
| G | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 2,678 | _ | 8,383 | |||||
| H | Transportation and storage | 5,714 | 16,362 | 37,915 | |||||
| I | Accommodation and food service activities | _ | 27 | _ | |||||
| J | Information and communication | _ | _ | _ | |||||
| K-L | Financial, insurance and real estate activities | _ | _ | _ | |||||
| M | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 89 | _ | _ | |||||
| N | Administrative and support service activities | 57 | 56 | _ | |||||
| O | Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | _ | 50 | _ | |||||
| P | Education | 23,960 | 54,562 | _ | |||||
| Q | Human health and social work activities | _ | _ | 14 | |||||
| R-U | Other NACE activities | _ | _ | _ | |||||
| Total | 32,964 | 71,647 | 50,191 | ||||||
| Source: CSO | |||||||||
Interactive table: StatBank link
During 2017 there were 50,191 days lost due to industrial disputes. This compares with 71,647 days lost in 2016 and 32,964 days lost in 2015.
Interactive table: StatBank link
The average number of persons on the Live Register decreased from 302,603 in 2016 to 258,580 in 2017. The average number of males on the Live Register stood at 148,313 in 2017, with the average number of females at 110,267.
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