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The Q1 2024 Labour Force Survey and latest Monthly Unemployment Release show:
Labour Force Survey (LFS) results published today by the Central Statistics Office show continued growth in Ireland’s labour market, with 50,500 jobs created in the year to Q1 2024. Employment now stands at 2.71 million, an increase of approximately 1.9 percent over Q1 2023.
This is reflective of the success of the government’s focus on driving a labour market recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, as set out in the Economic Recovery Plan. This commitment to continued employment growth has been renewed in the government’s White Paper on Enterprise, published in December 2022, which sets out the strategic direction for job creation in the years ahead.
Commenting on the figures, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke, said:
"Once again, the Irish labour market has shown exceptional resilience, with another successive quarter showing a new record for the highest number of people employed ever in our country. In April 2024, the monthly unemployment rate stood at 4.4%. It is encouraging to see that more than half of the jobs created in the past year were outside of Dublin, which is a testament to this government’s commitment to achieving more balanced regional enterprise development.
"Female participation rates in the labour market in particular have been trending upwards, with more women availing of opportunities for employment, and more women moving from part-time to full-time positions."
Commenting on the figures, the Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said:
"Today’s figures indicate the continued strength of the labour market in the first quarter of 2024.
"The official level of employment reached another record high of 2.71 million in the first quarter, with over 50,000 jobs added in the year to Q1 and 7,700 added in the first quarter alone. As a result, almost three-quarters of our working age population are now in employment. Continuing the trend seen in recent quarters, the strong annual growth in employment in the first quarter was driven by additions to labour supply; by net inward migration as well as increased participation - welcome developments considering the very tight conditions at present.
"Overall, today’s figures are broadly in line with expectations and point to some easing of the very tight conditions that characterised the labour market in early 2023 with the pace of employment growth easing somewhat. While the unemployment rate - at 4.3 per cent - remains low by historical standards and consistent with full employment, with labour demand easing and labour supply remaining robust, the labour market, though still tight, appears to have returned to a broadly balanced position, at least on aggregate. Nevertheless, I will continue to monitor conditions, in particular in relation to pay developments, in terms of impacts on competitiveness."