Unemployment figures fall: Jobs peak looms

The labour market is a closer to ebullient than buoyant — the number of people in work is predicted to pass a pre-crash peak within months.

The labour market is a closer to ebullient than buoyant — the number of people in work is predicted to pass a pre-crash peak within months.

CSO figures show total employment grew to 2.2m in the third quarter of 2017, corresponding to an annual increase of 48,100 or 2.2%. If current projections are accurate then employment will eclipse its 2007 peak of 2.24m in the first half of 2018, several years earlier than previously forecast.