Global| Sep 14 2005Good Growth in Irish Employment; Unemployment Rate Low in Q2
Summary
As we monitor large economies around the world, it's easy to lose track of their smaller neighbors. Ireland's Central Statistics Office reported employment and unemployment data this morning for Q2. The labor market there is strong [...]
As we monitor large economies around the world, it's easy to lose track of their smaller neighbors. Ireland's Central Statistics Office reported employment and unemployment data this morning for Q2. The labor market there is strong and undergoing an interesting structural shift.
Employment shot up in Q2 by 20,900 from Q1, producing a 93,000 increase from Q2 a year ago, a substantial 5.1% growth rate. In comparison, employment in the UK, which was reported today for the three months centered on June, grew by 1.11% year-on-year, and that was the fastest rate since last November (the three months centered on November), when it was just marginally higher, 1.14%. Further for Ireland, whose data are not seasonally adjusted, the increase was also the biggest for Q2 over Q1 in five years, since 2000. 
The Irish unemployment rate rose very modestly from 4.1% in Q1 to 4.2% in Q2. Even so, these two quarters have the lowest six-month average rate since 2001. The rate peaked at 5.1% in Q3 2003. Impressively, the low unemployment is being maintained at high levels of labor force participation. The participation rate reached 61.5% in Q2, a record for Q2, and 1.5 percentage points above Q2 2004.
One might think of Ireland as a manufacturing-centered country, but it, as others, has seen that sector diminish. Factory jobs fell to 294,200 in Q2, the first Q2 figure below 300,000 in the eight-year history of the series and down from a peak of 330,700 in Q3 2001. Notably, though, "industry" as a whole has held steady as construction jobs have taken up the slack. Services are responsible for the firm overall growth in jobs, with several individual sectors advancing steadily -- finance, education and health care, most notably.
| Ireland Not Seasonally Adjusted |
Q2 2005 | Q1 2005 | Q2 2004 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment (thousands) | 1929.2 | 1908.3 | 1836.2 | 1865.0 | 1810.6 | 1777.0 |
| Yr/Yr %Chg | 5.1 | 3.9 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| Participation Rate (%) | 61.5 | 61.0 | 60.0 | 60.7 | 50.1 | 60.0 |
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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