New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the estimated number of people in employment in the second quarter of this year stood at 2,818,100, an increase of 2.3% compared with the same time a year ago.
The CSO said the 2.3% rise in the number of people in employment was equivalent to 63,900 more people working than a year ago.
Today’s figures show that the employment rate for people aged between 15 and 64 years of age moved up to 74.7% in the second quarter of this year from 74.4% in the second quarter of 2024.
They also reveal that the age group with the highest employment rate was the 35-44 years age group, with an employment rate of 85.6%, up from 84.7% recorded a year previously.
The lowest employment rate by age was observed in the 15-19 year old cohort at 25.9%, the CSO added.
The largest increase in employment by economic sector was in the Construction sector, which rose by 29,600 people (18.4%), while the biggest decrease in employment was in the Information & Communication sector, which fell by 7,700 people (4.1%).
Meanwhile, the number of people who were unemployed in the three months from April to May stood at 140,800, with an associated unemployment rate of 4.8%.
The CSO said there were 31,800 people in long-term unemployment – unemployed for 12 months or longer – in the second quarter, 4,900 more people than the same time last year. The corresponding rate of long-term unemployment was 1.1%, up from 0.9% a year earlier.
Today’s figures also reveal that the estimated labour market participation rate in the second quarter of 2025 was 66.4%, up from 66% during the same three month period in 2024.
The estimated Labour Force – the sum of all people aged 15-89 years who were either employed or unemployed – stood at 2,958,900 in the second quarter, an increase of 2.5%, or 73,500 people, from the second quarter of 2024, the CSO added.
The CSO also said that the estimated total number of hours worked in the second quarter of 2 2025 was 88.9 million hours per week, an increase of 1.6 million hours on the same time last year.
It noted that the change in hours worked varied across the different economic sectors.
The Construction sector saw an additional one million hours worked, while the biggest sectoral decreases in hours worked were in the Accommodation & Food Service Activities and the Information & Communication sectors, which were each down 300,000 hours.
Article Source – Number of people at work rises by 2.3% in second quarter – CSO
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