News & Events

Minister Coveney and Minister McGrath welcome latest figures showing further employment growth in first quarter of 2023

The Q1 2023 Labour Force Survey and latest Monthly Unemployment Release show:

  • employment continues to grow, with 102,700 jobs created in the year to Q1 2023
  • total employment stands at 2.61 million, in excess of the 2.5 million target set in the Economic Recovery Plan for 2024
  • regions have driven this jobs growth – Employment outside of Dublin increased by 79,700 in the year to Q1 2023 (+ 4.6 percent)
  • full time employment was up 73,800 (+3.7 percent) year on year in the first quarter

Labour Force Survey (LFS) results published today by the Central Statistics Office show continued growth in Ireland’s labour market, with 102,700 jobs created in the year to Q1 2023. Employment now stands at 2.61 million, an increase of approximately 4.1 percent over Q1 2022.

This is reflective of the success of the government’s focus on driving a labour market recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, as set out in the Economic Recovery Plan. This commitment to continued employment growth has been renewed in the government’s White Paper on Enterprise, published in December 2022, which sets out the strategic direction for job creation in the years ahead.

Commenting on the figures, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD, said:

“We have more people employed in our country than ever before, with the monthly unemployment rate standing at just 3.9% in April. This is a considerable accomplishment given the challenges Ireland faced in recent years, including Brexit, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and global inflationary pressures. It is a testament to the hard work and remarkable resilience of Irish enterprise.”

Welcoming the figures, the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD, said:

“Today’s figures represent remarkable growth in employment since the end of the pandemic, more than 100,000 jobs have been added in the year to Q1 and almost 50,000 were added in the first quarter alone on a seasonally adjusted basis.

“Indeed, more than a quarter of a million jobs (+260,000) have been added since just before the pandemic.  This is a significant achievement given the global economic headwinds faced in recent years and points to the success of government policies introduced in response to these challenges.

“Looking ahead, labour supply is likely to remain a constraint on employment growth over the near term and this presents a growing risk that self-reinforcing wage-price dynamics could take hold. The government will therefore continue to be vigilant of these risks to avoid the emergence of a wage-price spiral that could damage our competitiveness and impact our economy.”

Please also find a link to the result themselves here: Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2023 - CSO