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Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor welcomes continuing strong growth in employment

  • Almost 70,000 more people at work since this time last year
  • More than 3 out of every 4 new jobs created were outside Dublin 
  • Unemployment falling in all regions

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor today (Tuesday) welcomed the latest Quarterly National Household Survey figures from the Central Statistics Office, showing that employment continues to increase strongly with 69,600 more people employed at the end of Q1 2017.
Importantly, there has been strong growth in the number of people full time employed while part time employment continues to fall.
The figures also show that there are now 2,063,900 people at work in Ireland.
This is the 19th quarter in succession where unemployment has declined.
The figures from the CSO today also show that unemployment continues to fall in all regions.
Employment grew in 11 out of 14 economic sectors – the largest annual increases were recorded in the industry sector (increase of 15,300 jobs), construction (increase of 10,900 jobs), and accommodation and food services (increase of 9,900 jobs)
Speaking today, Minister Mary Mitchell O’ Connor said: These figures are very positive and show that we are heading in the right direction towards full employment. The figures show that businesses right across the country are employing and that Government policies are working. It is very important for me to see the growth in employment is broad based, both sectorally and regionally. This is a key priority for me as every job that is created is transforming people’s lives.