Employment numbers 'may be reaching plateau' as inflation crisis bites

Fears inflation crisis and sharp rise in interest rates will hit Irish small firms exposed to squeezed households, such as retailers

Figures show that there were 2.55m people in employment at the end of the September quarter, an increase of 83,000, or 3.4%, from the same period a year earlier.

The number of people in employment appears to be reaching some sort of plateau, but there is little sign yet of any major shakeout for jobs amid the inflation crisis for households and businesses, Central Statistics Office figures suggest.

The figures show that there were 2.55m people in employment at the end of the September quarter, an increase of 83,000, or 3.4%, from the same period a year earlier when the economy was still recovering from Covid restrictions.