This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources.
The seasonally adjusted employee index rose by 0.2% in the month to May 2024.
The employee index for males increased by 0.1%, while the employee index for females increased by 0.3% over the same period.
The seasonally adjusted employee index was up by 2.2% in the 12 months to May 2024.
Taking age into account, the largest rises in the monthly index to May 2024 were seen in the 60-64 years (+0.7%) and 55-59 years (+0.4%) age bands.
The NACE sector with the largest monthly increase in May 2024 was Education (+0.8%), followed by Public Administration & Defence (+0.7%).
The largest monthly decrease in May 2024 was in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (-1.2%), followed by Administrative & Support Service Activities (-0.6%).
In the 12 months to May 2024, the economic sector that observed the largest rise in the number of employees was Public Administration & Defence (+7.0%).
The Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data release is a very short time series (just over five years of monthly data) and is thus at the lower limit of acceptable length for the seasonal adjustment process. In the short term, care should be taken in interpreting the seasonally adjusted output. Users should be aware that there is increased uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during the COVID-19 period due to the volatility of the data. Non-seasonally adjusted data are available on PxStat. The seasonal models were revised in June 2024. The models are being updated as part of the annual review process in accordance with the CSO and ESS (European Statistical System/Eurostat) guidelines.
The Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data is published as a 'Frontier' release, therefore the methodology and data are subject to revision. As more data become available, due to later transmissions from employers, the series may change from month to month. As this particularly affects the most recent months, figures should be considered provisional for the two most recent months for the non-seasonally adjusted data. Estimates for 2023 were revised in June 2024 as part of an annual review with the latest data available. All figures for monthly percentage change and annual percentage change are calculated prior to the input data being rounded.
Note: It is anticipated that an update including new weighting will be introduced in forthcoming months. This will result in a break in series.
| Number of Employees and Employee Index, Monthly and Annual Changes, Seasonally Adjusted | ||||
| Period | Number of Employees | Employee Index (Base year: 2019=100) | Monthly % Change | Annual % Change |
| May 2023 | 2,426,200 | 112.6 | 0.1 | 3.1 |
| April 2024 | 2,476,300 | 115.0 | 0.1 | 2.2 |
| May 2024 | 2,480,800 | 115.2 | 0.2 | 2.2 |
The seasonally adjusted index increased by 2.2% in May 2024 when compared with May 2023. March 2021 was the last month to show an annual decrease (-10.9%) in the employee index.
On an annual basis, the female index increased by 2.7% while the male index rose by 2.0%. On a monthly basis the female index was up 0.3%, while the male index increased by 0.1% in May 2024.
With the exception of the 15-19 years age category (-3.5%), all age groups saw annual increases in the employee index. The age group with the largest annual rise in employees was 65 years and over (+11.2%) followed by those aged 60-64 years (+6.1%).
Most economic sectors showed an annual increase in the employee index when compared with May 2023. The sectors showing the largest annual increases were Public Administration & Defence (+7.0%), and Human Health & Social Work Activities (+6.0%). The largest decrease was recorded in Information & Communication (-3.3%).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (15 July 2024) released Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data, May 2024.
Commenting on the release, Aoife McHugh, Statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division, said:
“Seven NACE sectors saw a monthly increase in the numbers employed in May 2024, six sectors decreased, while two remained unchanged. The sector that observed the largest monthly decrease was Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (-1.2%), while the largest monthly rise was seen in Education, which was up by 0.8%.
The 60-64 years age group saw the largest rise (+0.7%) in employees in the month to May 2024. Four age categories saw monthly increases in the employee index, three age groups fell, while one remained unchanged.
On an annual basis, the seasonally adjusted index went up by 2.2% over the full year from May 2023 to May 2024.”
Data from this publication supplement those in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) quarterly series, which is the official measure of both employment and unemployment for the State. Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data are of relevance to LFS Seasonally Adjusted Estimates and Employment outputs.