Number of people employed in April reaches over 2.6m

The Central Statistics Office said there were 10 economic sectors that recorded a month-on-month increase in the numbers employed while five sectors recorded a decrease

According to the data, there were an estimated 2.6m employees working in Ireland during April, up from the just under 2.55m recorded in April last year.

The total number of people working in Ireland is estimated to have increased by 2.2% in the year to April 2026 as employment gains so far this year offer a reassuring sign of “a healthy pace of job creation”, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

According to the data, there were an estimated 2.6m employees working in Ireland during April, up from the just under 2.55m recorded in April last year. 

In comparison to March, the number is up 0.1% from 2.599m.

In terms of demographics, one age category, the 35-44 years, saw a decrease in the annual index of just 0.1%. 

All other categories saw annual increases in the employee index, with the largest annual rise in employees in the 65 years and over age group — an increase of 7.5%.

The economic sectors showing the largest annual increase were transportation and storage, up 7%, followed by construction, up 4.6%. The two sectors showing annual decreases were industry, down 0.8%, and information and communication, down 0.3%.

The CSO said there were 10 economic sectors that recorded a month-on-month increase in the number of people employed while five sectors recorded a decrease.

Bank of Ireland’s economic research unit said there has been a 0.5% gain in employee numbers in the first four months of 2026 which it called “a reassuring sign that a healthy pace of job creation has been sustained this year”.

“The outturn gives us confidence in our view that the much more pernicious slowdown in Irish job creation, signalled by the official Labour Force Survey (LFS) measure, reflects sampling error and volatility in the data,” Bank of Ireland said.

“Buoyant income tax returns, up 7.5% in 2026, also paint a very different picture to the LFS. Therefore, we are likely to keep our forecast for employment growth in 2026 above 1%, assuming a bounce-back in the LFS measure in Q2 2026.”