Employment rate hits record high in Ireland

The employment rate in the second quarter of 2022 was 73.5 per cent, marking the highest rate since the current series of records began in 1998.

The latest Labour Force Survey from the Central Statistics Office shows that the number of people in employment increased by 8.7 per cent to 2,554,600 in the second quarter of this year.

In that same period, there was a 9.4 per cent rise in the number of hours worked per week. This equates to an extra 7.1 million hours in Q2 of this year, bringing the number of hours worked per week to a record high of 83 million.

The number of absences from work during the reference week was 187,200, compared to a peak of 468,500 absences recorded in the second quarter of 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the CSO.

Meanwhile, there were 119,900 persons classified as unemployed in Q2 2022, with an associated unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent for those aged 15-74 years.

CSO statistician Sam Scriven said: “Employment increased in the year to Q2 2022 across most economic sectors with the largest increase in the Accommodation & Food Service sector.

“However, employment in this sector at 168,200 remains below the Q2 2019 level of 180,800.”