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Press Statement

Preasráiteas

25 August 2022

Labour Force Survey Quarter 2 2022

The number of persons in employment increased by 8.7% to 2,554,600 in the year to Q2 2022
  • The employment rate for persons aged 15-64 in Q2 2022 was 73.5%, up from 68.6% in Q2 2021. This is the highest employment rate in the current series which began in Q1 1998
  • The number of absences from work (e.g. temporary layoffs from work, family leave, or holidays) during the reference week in Q2 2022 was 187,200, compared to a peak of 468,500 absences recorded in Q2 2020
  • In the year to Q2 2022, there was a 9.4% rise in the number of hours worked per week
  • The 9.4% rise in the number of hours worked per week equates to an extra 7.1 million hours in the year to Q2 2022, bringing the number of hours worked per week to a record high of 83.0 million
  • There were 119,900 persons classified as unemployed in Q2 2022 with an associated Unemployment Rate of 4.5% for those aged 15-74 years

Go to release: Labour Force Survey Quarter 2 2022

See: Infographic

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 August 2022) issued results from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for Q2 2022.

Commenting on today’s publication, Sam Scriven, Statistician, said: “The number of persons aged 15-89 years in employment increased by 205,500 or 8.7% to 2,554,600 persons in the year to Q2 2022. The unadjusted employment rate for persons aged 15-64 years was 73.5%. Employment increased in the year to Q2 2022 across most economic sectors with the largest increase in the Accommodation & Food Service (+39.2% or +47,300) sector. However, employment in this sector at 168,200 remains below the Q2 2019 level of 180,800.

The number of absences from work (e.g. temporary layoffs from work, family leave, or holidays) during the reference week in Q2 2022 declined by 15.3% to 187,200. This, together with an increase of 8.7% in employment, resulted in an increase of 9.4% or 7.1 million more hours worked per week to a record 83.0 million hours per week in Q2 2022. The impact on hours worked varied across the different economic sectors. The number of hours worked in Q2 2022 per week was higher than a year ago in almost all sectors. The 4.8 million hours worked per week in the Accommodation & Food Services sector, while up from Q2 2020 (1.2 million), remains below the pre-pandemic (Q2 2019) figure of 5.4 million.

The number of persons aged 15-74 years who were unemployed in Q2 2022 stood at 119,900 with an associated Unemployment Rate of 4.5%.

In Q2 2022, the total number of persons in the labour force was up 5.6% or 141,300 to 2,674,500 from Q2 2021. The number of persons not in the labour force was 1,424,800 which was down 3.9% or 57,900 from a year earlier.”

Commenting on the importance of sampled individuals taking part in the LFS, Sam Scriven, added: “Randomly selected households receive introductory letters by post giving them an option to ring the interviewer or the interviewer may call to their house to ask them to take part. These surveys give us a picture of the economic and social situation of the citizens of Ireland in a way, and with a level of accuracy, that no one else can gain. If you are asked to take part in a CSO survey, please do so. It means that when CSO figures are quoted you know they’re accurate, because you told us.”

 

Note to Editors

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of labour market statistics for Ireland including the official measures of employment and unemployment. These official measures are based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) concepts and definitions. The ILO measures are the international standard, and all EU Member States are legally obliged to compile and provide this data to Eurostat on a quarterly basis.

The methodology outlined in the Information Note published alongside the Q2 2020 LFS results on 24 August 2020 still applies to the LFS results for Q2 2022. Please see Information Note

Information Note - Implications of COVID-19 on the Labour Force Survey - Quarter 2 2020 Update

For more information:

See: https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/labourmarket/labourforcesurveylfs/

Contact: Sam Scriven, Labour Market Analysis – 021-453-5276

For further information contact:

Dan Gallagher (+353) 21 453 5223

or email labour@cso.ie

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