Bank of Ireland jobs index hits high

A BIG increase in recruitment in the IT/Tech sector has driven Bank of Ireland Business Banking's job index to an all-time high.

Recruitment advertising in Ireland's national newspapers was up 7% in September on September 2003, hitting its highest levels since the Bank of Ireland Job Index began. There were 19,681 posts advertised in the national daily and Sunday newspapers in September, according to Bank of Ireland Business Banking's job index. This is the highest number of recruitment advertisements since the index began in March 2002.

"The figure represents a 7% increase over September 2003 with the highest monthly increases in the IT/Tech (+52%), healthcare (+29%) and professional (+26%) sectors.

"There were also significant increases in the education (+23%) and retail (+16%) sectors.

"Despite the overall increases, there have been some sectoral declines compared to September 2003, particularly in the financial (-26%) and manufacturing (-24%) sectors. The leisure sector (-10%) continued its downward trend while recruitment in the construction sector was also down (-6%)," the bank said.

Bank of Ireland Group Chief Economist Dan McLaughlin said: "Irish economic growth slowed somewhat in the second quarter of the year, to 4.1% from 6.1% in Q1, and the impact of this is visible in Business Banking's Job Index, with recruitment growth slowing over the summer months."

Bank of Ireland Business Banking director Cathal Muckian, Director said: "This growth is set to continue and it is feasible that we will reach a point where we will have to look toward the EU accession states to satisfy the demand for labour which will ensure that economic growth is maintained."