Economy - Employment and unemployment
EU: Employment rates by sex, 2012
Ireland: Employment rates by sex, 2003-2013
- The overall employment rate in Ireland in 2012 was 58.8%, the fifth lowest in the EU and well below the EU average of 64.2%. The highest employment rate in the EU was in the Netherlands at 75.1% while the lowest was in Greece at 51.3%.
- The male employment rate in Ireland was 7.2 percentage points above the female rate in 2012. This represented a significant narrowing since 2003, when the male rate, at 74.9%, was 19.5 percentage points ahead of the female rate of 55.4%, (see graph).
- The overall employment rate in Ireland for those aged 15-64 rose from 65.2% in 2003 to 69.1% in 2007 before falling sharply over the five years to 58.8% in 2012. However there was a small increase to 60.2% in 2013.
- The male employment rate was stable over the 2003 to 2007 period at about 76% but declined steeply over the next four years to 62.4% in 2012, before increasing to 64.6% in 2013.
- The female employment rate increased from 55.4% in 2003 to 60.6% in 2007 before it dropped to 55.2% in 2012, followed by a slight rise to 55.9% in 2013.
Ireland: GDP in PPS per hour worked and per person employed, 2002-2012
EU: GDP in PPS per person employed, 2012
- In 2011, productivity in Ireland was nearly 43% higher then the EU average, when measured using GDP in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) per person employed.
- As Irish employees work longer hours, productivity per hour worked is lower, at 29.4% above the EU average.
- Ireland had the second highest productivity rate among EU states in 2012, after Luxembourg, when measured using GDP (see graph). When measured using GNI, Irish productivity was the fourth highest in the EU.
- The graph shows that the twelve new EU member states, along with Greece and Portugal, have productivity rates below the EU average.
EU: Unemployment rates by sex, 2012
Ireland and EU: Unemployment rates, 2003-2013
- The unemployment rate in Ireland in 2012, at 15%, was the fifth highest in the EU and well above the EU average of 10.6%. Austria had the lowest unemployment rate in the EU, with a rate of just 4.4%.
- Fifteen EU countries, including Ireland, had higher male than female unemployment rates in 2012, with Ireland having the largest gender differential in the EU: 18.1% of males and 11% of females were unemployed.
- The unemployment rate in Ireland fell to 4.6% in 2003 having been significantly higher in the 1990s. Over the following four years the rate remained fairly stable and then increased to 5.7% in 2008, (see graph).
- The unemployment rate then more than doubled to 12.2% in 2009, and increased again to 14.6% in 2011 and to 15% in 2012 before falling slightly in 2013 to 13.9%.
EU: Long-term unemployment rates by sex, 2012
Ireland and EU: Long-term unemployment rates, 2003-2013
- The long-term unemployment rate (those unemployed for a year or more) in Ireland was 9.2% in 2012 and was the fourth highest in the EU. The average rate in the EU was 4.6%.
- The long-term unemployment rate for men in Ireland was 12.3% in 2012, compared to a rate of 5.5% of women. At EU level the rates for women and men were the same.
- The long-term unemployment rate in Ireland was fairly stable at around 1.5% between 2003 and 2008 but it increased sharply to 6.4% in 2010 and continued to rise to 9.2% in 2012. There was a small decrease in this rate to 8.1% in 2013, (see graph).
- The EU long-term unemployment rate was around 4% between 2003 and 2005 and then decreased over the following few years to 2.6% in 2008 before rising steadily each year since then to stand at 4.6% in 2012, (see graph).
EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households, 2008-2012
Ireland and EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households, 2003-2012
EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households 2012
- Nearly one in six (15.9%) persons aged 18-59 in Ireland were living in a jobless household in 2012, which was the second highest proportion in the EU, behind Greece at 17.5%.
- The EU average proportion of persons aged 18-59 living in jobless households was 10.8% in 2012 with the lowest rate in the Czech Republic at 6.5%.
- The proportion of the population aged 18-59 living in jobless households in Ireland was relatively stable over the period 2003-2008 at about 8% or 9%. However, the proportion increased sharply in 2009 to 12.7% and continued to rise over the last three years to stand at 15.9% in 2012, (see graph).
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