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Labour Force Survey Quarter 4 2024

Employment

Employment increased by 32,000 (2.2%) for males and 38,000 (3.0%) for females in the year to Q4 2024

Online ISSN: 2565-5728

CSO statistical publication, 20 February 2025, 11am

Numbers Employed and Employment Rate

Using standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) criteria, an estimated 2,776,400 persons were in employment in Q4 2024, up 2.6% (70,000) from 2,706,400 in Q4 2023.

The increase of 70,000 (+2.6%) in employment is composed of increases of 32,000 (+2.2%) for males and 38,000 (+3.0%) for females in the year to Q4 2024.

The employment rate for those aged 15-64 was 74.3% in Q4 2024 compared to 74.0% in Q4 2023 and 73.3% in Q4 2022. In Q4 2024, the employment rate for males aged 15-64 years was 78.0%, compared to 70.6% for females. See px-stat QLF01.

See Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data Sources outputs for employment estimates based on administrative data for employees.

46.1%

Youth employment rate in Q4 2024

Down from 48.5% in Q4 2023

Source: CSO Ireland, Labour Force Survey Quarter 4 2024

Table 2.1 Persons aged 15 years and over classified by Sex and ILO Economic Status

Table 2.1 Persons aged 15 years and over classified by sex and ILO Economic Status ^1,2
'000
ILO Economic Status		Q4 22	Q3 23	Q4 23	Q1 24	Q2 24	Q3 24	Q4 24
Males
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		1,451.0	1,495.2	1,493.9	1,491.3	1,518.0	1,542.4	1,530.8
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		1,393.3	1,426.4	1,433.8	1,431.9	1,448.2	1,477.8	1,465.8
full-time		1,216.5	1,246.3	1,235.8	1,233.6	1,260.4	1,284.5	1,276.1
part-time		176.9	180.0	198.0	198.3	187.8	193.3	189.6
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	138.1	131.0	141.9	148.4	133.2	138.3	137.1
	part-time, underemployed	38.8	49.0	56.1	49.9	54.6	55.0	52.6
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		57.7	68.8	60.1	59.3	69.8	64.5	65.0
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		48.6	51.8	46.9	46.5	53.5	47.5	47.6
seeking part-time work		[7.1]	14.6	11.4	10.1	13.4	13.8	14.9
seeking work as self-employed		..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		617.6	606.9	621.7	633.7	623.2	611.4	636.0
Potential additional labour force		27.6	42.3	47.8	46.4	59.3	58.7	46.1
Others		590.1	564.6	573.8	587.3	563.9	552.8	589.9
Total males aged 15 or over		2,068.6	2,102.1	2,115.5	2,125.0	2,141.3	2,153.8	2,166.8
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.0	4.6	4.1	4.0	4.6	4.2	4.3
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		70.1	71.1	70.6	70.2	70.9	71.6	70.6

Females
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		1,278.3	1,330.9	1,330.2	1,328.1	1,367.4	1,382.0	1,361.7
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		1,223.4	1,269.9	1,272.6	1,272.3	1,306.0	1,317.0	1,310.6
full-time		839.0	868.0	878.2	897.2	922.1	924.6	919.6
part-time		384.4	401.9	394.4	375.1	383.8	392.4	391.1
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	320.2	318.9	310.7	299.9	296.6	319.9	317.7
	part-time, underemployed	64.2	82.9	83.6	75.2	87.2	72.5	73.3
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		54.9	61.1	57.6	55.9	61.4	65.0	51.1
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		34.1	37.9	29.3	31.7	35.8	38.5	27.7
seeking part-time work		18.2	22.9	25.4	21.0	22.9	23.3	20.8
seeking work as self-employed		..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		875.2	857.7	872.9	882.5	861.4	853.7	885.9
Potential additional labour force		33.4	49.3	57.9	55.9	63.4	70.7	67.6
Others		841.7	808.4	815.0	826.7	797.9	782.9	818.3
Total females aged 15 or over		2,153.5	2,188.6	2,203.0	2,210.7	2,228.7	2,235.7	2,247.6
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.3	4.6	4.3	4.2	4.5	4.7	3.8
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		59.4	60.8	60.4	60.1	61.4	61.8	60.6

All persons
In labour force (Persons aged 15-89)		2,729.4	2,826.2	2,824.1	2,819.4	2,885.4	2,924.4	2,892.5
In employment (Persons aged 15-89)		2,616.7	2,696.2	2,706.4	2,704.2	2,754.2	2,794.8	2,776.4
full-time		2,055.4	2,114.3	2,114.0	2,130.8	2,182.5	2,209.1	2,195.7
part-time		561.3	581.9	592.4	573.4	571.6	585.7	580.7
of which:	part-time, not underemployed	458.3	449.9	452.6	448.3	429.8	458.3	454.8
	part-time, underemployed	103.0	132.0	139.8	125.1	141.8	127.5	125.9
Unemployed (Persons aged 15-74)		112.6	129.9	117.7	115.2	131.2	129.5	116.1
seeking full-time work/future job-starter		82.7	89.6	76.2	78.2	89.3	86.0	75.3
seeking part-time work		25.3	37.5	36.8	31.1	36.3	37.1	35.7
seeking work as self-employed		..	..	..	..	..	[6.5]	..
Not in labour force (Persons aged 15+)		1,492.8	1,464.6	1,494.5	1,516.3	1,484.6	1,465.1	1,521.9
Potential additional labour force		61.0	91.6	105.7	102.3	122.7	129.4	113.7
Others		1,431.8	1,373.0	1,388.8	1,414.0	1,361.9	1,335.7	1,408.2
Total persons aged 15 or over		4,222.1	4,290.7	4,318.6	4,335.7	4,370.0	4,389.5	4,414.4
Unemployment rate % (Persons aged 15-74)		4.1	4.6	4.2	4.1	4.6	4.5	4.0
Participation rate % (Persons aged 15+)		64.6	65.9	65.4	65.0	66.0	66.6	65.5

Employment rate % (Persons aged 15-64)
Male		78.1	78.5	78.3	78.0	78.1	79.3	78.0
Female		68.6	70.0	69.8	69.8	70.8	71.4	70.6
Total persons		73.3	74.2	74.0	73.8	74.4	75.3	74.3
¹ Data in this table incorporates updated population estimates based on the results of Census 2022. For further information see Background Notes.
²Estimates for number of persons, where there are less than 30 persons in a cell, are too small to be considered reliable. These estimates are presented with (..) in the relevant tables. Where there are 30-49 persons in a cell, estimates are considered to have a wider margin of error and should be treated with caution. These cells are presented with parentheses []. In the case of rates, these limits apply to the denominator used in generating the rate. In the case of annual changes, both the current year and the preceding year are taken into account when deciding whether the estimate should be suppressed or flagged as having a wider margin of error.

Open in Excel: Labour Force Survey Quarter 4 2024 Table 2.1 (XLS 44KB)

Economic Sector

The economic sectors that saw the largest year-on-year increases in employment in Q4 2024 were:

Human Health & Social Work Activities, which increased by 17,200 or 4.7%
Construction, which increased by 14,700 or 9.1%
Information & Communication, which rose by 14,000 or 8.3%

The largest decreases in employment by economic sector in Q4 2024 were observed in:

Wholesale & Retail Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; down 17,300 or -5.0%
Administrative & Support Service Activities, which decreased by 6,400 or -6.0%

Employment Status

The number of employees increased by 61,100 (+2.6%) in the year to Q4 2024 to 2,399,700, while the number of self-employed increased by 11,000 (+3.2%) to 352,300.

The increase in overall employment of 70,00 in the year to Q4 2024 was made up of an increase of 81,700 (+3.9%) persons in full-time employment and a decrease of 11,700 (-2.0%) persons in part-time employment. See Table 2.1.

Hours worked

The estimated total number of hours worked per week in Q4 2024 stood at 85.6 million hours, up by 3.1 million hours or 3.8% on Q4 2023, and up 3.4 million hours (+4.1%) on Q4 2022. See Fig 2.2.

Table 2.2 Total actual hours worked (millions) per week by Economic Sector, Quarter 4 2022 to Quarter 4 2024

Seasonally Adjusted Employment

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the numbers in employment in Q4 2024 stood at 2,776,800 after a fall of 4,500 (-0.2%) from the previous quarter. This follows on from a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter increase in employment in each of the preceding four quarters – 35,300 (+1.3%) in Q3 2024; 21,200 (+0.8%) in Q2 2024 and an increase of 19,400 (+0.7%) in Q1 2024.

The seasonally adjusted number of males in employment was down by 400 (0.0%) over the quarter to 1,465,200 in Q4 2024, while the corresponding number for females was down 900 (-0.1%) to 1,314,100 over the same period See Table QLF03.

See Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data Sources outputs for seasonally adjusted employment estimates based on administrative data for employees.

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Labour Force Survey Quarter 4 2024

Employment

Employment

Employment increased by 32,000 (2.2%) for males and 38,000 (3.0%) for females in the year to Q4 2024

Numbers Employed and Employment Rate

Economic Sector

Employment Status

Hours worked

Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Contents

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Table 2.2 Total actual hours worked (millions) per week by Economic Sector, Quarter 4 2022 to Quarter 4 2024 ^1,2,3
Millions of hours
		Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q4 2024
A	Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing	4.4	4.4	4.4
B-E	Industry	11.2	10.4	11.2
F	Construction	6.0	5.6	6.3
G	Wholesale & Retail Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	9.7	9.9	9.3
H	Transportation & Storage	4.0	3.8	4.0
I	Accommodation & Food Service Activities	4.6	4.9	5.0
J	Information & Communication	5.6	5.6	6.0
K-L	Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities	4.6	4.4	4.5
M	Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities	5.6	6.1	6.5
N	Administrative & Support Service Activities	3.2	3.0	2.9
O	Public Administration & Defence: compulsory social security	4.6	4.5	4.9
P	Education	5.2	5.9	5.9
Q	Human Health & Social Work Activities	10.2	10.4	11.1
R-U	Other NACE activities	3.1	3.4	3.3
All sectors		82.2	82.5	85.6
Source: Labour Force Survey
¹Data in this table incorporates updated population estimates based on the results of Census 2022. For further information see Background Notes.
²Data may be subject to future revision.
³ Some data in this table are produced according to adjusted methodology. Please refer to the Methodological Note in this chapter.