21st May 2015
41,300 more people at work in the last year according to the latest figures from the CSO
The Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD, has welcomed the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which show that the unemployment rate has fallen to 9.9%.
The number of people in work over the past year has risen by 41,300 people according to the Quarterly National Household survey data released this morning. This represented an increase in full-time employment of 52,100 and a decrease in part-time employment of 10,800.
Speaking from Prague where he is leading an Enterprise Ireland trade mission, Minister Nash said: “I am very pleased to see the unemployment rate fall below 10% for the first time since 2008. The Action Plan for Jobs is delivering. There are 10,000 more people at work in the first three months of this year alone. Finding work after a period of unemployment is life-changing not just to the person who has gotten the job, but also to their family and has wider positive knock-on effects to the community they live in and indeed for the State, as that person becomes a contributor through income tax.”
“It is also really heartening to see that the vast majority of the jobs that are being created are full-time and many of those who were in part-time employment are now moving to more secure employment. Part of my agenda as Minister for Employment is focusing on creating decent, sustainable jobs and these figures show that the Government’s approach is working.”
Minister Nash continued: “It is encouraging to see that the long-term unemployment levels are continuing to fall – down to 5.9% from 7.3% over the past year. It is still too high, but through Pathways to Work led by the Tánaiste, we are striving to ensure that as many as the new jobs as possible are going to people on the Live Register.”
“I am particularly pleased to see the high rise in the numbers of people working in construction after the hammering this sector took during the bust. There are 19,600 more people working in construction in the last year, a leap of 19.1%.”
The figures released today show that unemployment in Ireland is now broadly in line with the other EU28 countries.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 01- 6312200 or press.office@djei.ie
Or Deirdre Grant 086 0484 279
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