More people find work, but jobless fall slows

Official statistics published yesterday showed that while more people were at work, the fall in the unemployment rate may be slowing.

The CSO figures from its quarterly national survey showed there were 44,100 jobs created in the final quarter of last year from the same period in 2014.

In the final days of the election campaign, the survey will provide ammunition for both coalition and opposition parties.

The battered construction industry created 9,900 jobs in the year to record the fastest percentage growth, though many building workers remain among the long-term unemployed following the crash eight years ago.

Twelve of the 14 industries the CSO tracks employed more people, but the number of jobs in finance, insurance and real estate fell by 4,000 in the year — possibly because of the cooling of the housing sales market since the Central Bank brought in its new mortgage restrictions a year ago.

However, other features of the CSO survey that may cause concern include statistics showing only a modest decline in the long-term unemployment rate.

Over 54% of the total unemployed in the last three months of 2015 were long-term unemployed, compared with 58% a year earlier.

And youth unemployment — although down in the year — shows that almost 19% of 15-to-24 year-olds are unemployed.

The CSO uses the quarterly surveys as its “benchmark” to calculate the monthly unemployment rates.

Following the survey, the CSO raised the estimate for last month’s jobless rate to 8.9% from its previous estimate of 8.6%.

At 7.4%, unemployment is lowest in the south-west region, and is highest in the south-east, at 11.9%, the CSO figures show. Dublin’s unemployment is at 7.6%.

Unemployment has fallen from its peak in early 2012 of 15.1%, but the Irish figure is also much less impressive when compared with international experience — which shows the country’s unemployment is somewhat mid-table in the European league.

Overall, the survey showed that of the 3.6m population aged 15 years and over, there were 1.93m people at work in the final quarter of last year, while 229,600 people were unemployed.

There were 408,700 students, 458,400 people were categorised as performing home duties, while 431,100 people were retirees.

In a note called “solid rather than spectacular job gains”, Goodbody Stockbrokers chief economist Dermot O’Leary said that Dublin “accounted for over half, 52%, of the employment gains despite accounting for 31% of the total employment in the State”.

“While it is true to say that Dublin continues to lead the recovery in Ireland, it is also important to recognise that the recovery is being felt outside the capital,” said Mr O’Leary.

KBC Bank said: “Irish employment data for the final quarter of 2015 show the improvement in the jobs market is continuing and is becoming more broadly based across economic sectors.

"However, the pace of jobs growth in late 2015 was a little weaker than we expected.”

Philip O’Sullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland said the figures showed that “the top performing areas in terms of employment growth in the fourth quarter were those exposed to the domestic economy” including hotels, transport, and the wholesale and retail industries.