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.
X-axis label | Males | Females |
---|---|---|
In labour force | 1314.9 | 1115.8 |
In employment | 1242 | 1058.1 |
Full-time employment | 1111.6 | 726.4 |
Part-time employment | 130.3 | 331.6 |
Unemployed | 73 | 57.8 |
Not in labour force | 606.6 | 875.2 |
The total number of persons in the labour force in 2019 was 2,430,800, an annual increase of 31,400. The number of persons in employment increased from 1,926,300 in 2013 to 2,300,000 in 2019, an increase of over 19% in six years.
There were 1,838,100 persons in full-time employment in 2019 while the corresponding number for part-time employment was 462,000. Full-time employment accounted for almost 80% of total employment in 2019.
The overall unemployment rate decreased from 14.7% in 2013 to 6.0% in 2018 and stood at 5.4% in 2019. The number of persons unemployed in 2013 was 329,900 compared with 144,300 in 2018 and 130,800 in 2019. The number of persons unemployed decreased by 9.4% between 2018 and 2019.
Interactive table: StatBank link
Link to release: Labour Force Survey Quarterly
Table 3.2 Industrial disputes: days lost in all disputes in progress during year | |||||||||
Number | |||||||||
Economic Sector (NACE Rev.2 ) | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||||
A | Agriculture, forestry and fishing | _ | _ | _ | |||||
B-E | Industry | 457 | 1,789 | 399 | |||||
F | Construction | 133 | 2,090 | _ | |||||
G | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | _ | 8,383 | 1,142 | |||||
H | Transportation and storage | 16,362 | 37,915 | 429 | |||||
I | Accommodation and food service activities | 27 | _ | _ | |||||
J | Information and communication | _ | _ | _ | |||||
K-L | Financial, insurance and real estate activities | _ | _ | 1,446 | |||||
M | Professional, scientific and technical activities | _ | _ | 79 | |||||
N | Administrative and support service activities | 56 | _ | _ | |||||
O | Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 50 | _ | 555 | |||||
P | Education | 54,562 | _ | _ | |||||
Q | Human health and social work activities | _ | 14 | _ | |||||
R-U | Other NACE activities | _ | _ | _ | |||||
Total | 71,647 | 50,191 | 4,050 | ||||||
Source: CSO |
During 2018 there were 4,050 days lost due to industrial disputes. This compares with 50,191 days lost in 2017 and 71,647 days lost in 2016.
Interactive table: StatBank link
Link to release: Industrial Disputes Quarterly
The average number of persons on the Live Register decreased from 258,580 in 2017 to 220,065 in 2018. The average number of males on the Live Register stood at 124,068 in 2018, with the average number of females at 95,996.
Interactive table: StatBank link
Link to release: Live Register
Go to next chapter >>> Health