Boom time: jobs surge to continue in 2006

THE jobs boom is set to continue this year, the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) predicted last night, as it announced that the country had seen the biggest increase in employment in five years.

Nearly 13,000 jobs were created in Ireland by foreign companies in 2005.

Figures released by the IDA yesterday show that employment in multinational firms increased by 12,605 to 133,362. The rise was offset by the loss of 8,000 jobs across the country, but the net increase of almost 5,000 has not been seen since 2000.