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Labour Market

2,300,000
Persons in employment in Q2 2019

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.

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X-axis labelMalesFemales
In labour force1314.91115.8
In employment12421058.1
Full-time employment1111.6726.4
Part-time employment130.3331.6
Unemployed7357.8
Not in labour force606.6875.2
3.1 Persons aged 15 years and over classified by sex and ILO economic status

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 )201620172018
AAgriculture, forestry and fishing___
B-EIndustry4571,789399
FConstruction1332,090_
GWholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles_8,3831,142
HTransportation and storage 16,36237,915429
IAccommodation and food service activities27__
JInformation and communication___
K-LFinancial, insurance and real estate activities__1,446
MProfessional, scientific and technical activities__79
NAdministrative and support service activities56__
OPublic administration and defence; compulsory social security50_555
PEducation54,562__
QHuman health and social work activities_14_
R-UOther NACE activities ___
Total71,64750,1914,050
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

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3.3 Annual average number of persons on the Live Register in each Regional Authority

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