The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for January was 8.6%, down from 8.8% in December and 10.1% in January 2015. Ireland’s jobless rate compares with a current Eurozone average of 10.4%.
Consecutive gains in employment have been posted in the past three years and the Department of Finance is projecting that Ireland will pass the two million people in employment mark in 2016 replace all of the jobs lost during the downturn by 2018 and, in total, between 2015 and 2020, add more than 200,000 new jobs.
Meanwhile, net outward migration is expected to cease this year with a return to inward migration from 2017 onwards.
Employment rose in twelve of the fourteen economic sectors on an annual basis and fell in the other two in the third quarter of 2015, according to the most recent published figures. The greatest rate of increase was posted in the Construction (+13.3% or 15,000) sector. The pick-up in this sector is particularly encouraging given that it was the one that suffered the worst job losses in the economic downturn.
According to Merrion Stockbrokers, "There was an average jobless rate of 9.4% in 2015, down from 11.3% in 2014. With the economy continuing to grow strongly, an average jobless rate of 8.3% is now envisaged for 2016, with another net increase in employment of close on 50,000.
"This will be the last set of unemployment figures before the General Election and the continued fall in the numbers out of work combined with the strong pick-up in the economy generally (new car sales in January up a third on the same month last year, manufacturing PMI at six-month high in January) should boost the chances of the Fine Gael/Labour coalition returning to power."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
