Dublin gets lion's share as employment numbers rise to record 2.28m
There is some evidence that Brexit uncertainty is slowing jobs growth, while Dublin still attracts the lion’s share of the new jobs, according to chief economist at KBC Bank.
Austin Hughes said the CSO’s latest Labour Force Survey suggests “a multi-speed and patchy recovery”, with Dublin and the South West adding jobs at a fast clip, while employment in the Mid-West and Border regions had fallen. Brexit uncertainty may be responsible for the uneven regional pattern, Mr Hughes said.
Dublin jobs growth was being led by multinationals and their demand for offices which had spurred construction, while South West’s jobs performance was also strong, but other regions were “patchy”, Mr Hughes said.
Overall, the CSO figures showed that employment across the State rose by 50,500 in the year to a new record of over 2.28 million in the fourth quarter last year.
Employment in wholesale and retail — which rose to 312,000 — and healthcare and social services — up at 289,000, were the two largest areas of employment.
Employment in accommodation and food storage rose by 6,000 in the year to 175,000, while the number working in construction rose by 11,000 to 144,000, the CSO figures show. Jobs in agriculture —down to 105,00 — and employment in industry, which fell to 281,00, were among the areas that contracted.
Mr Hughes said a strong rise in employment of non-Irish nationals suggested an uptick of immigration.
The figures were “very healthy” but there were signs that jobs “growth is cooling”, said Ulster Bank chief economist Simon Barry.
