Reports show record labour force increase over the past year
14/09/2005 - 11:44:54Ireland's labour force has grown by record levels over the past year, according to figures published today by the Central Statistics Office.
The CSO said the number of people either in work or seeking work had increased by almost 95,000 between June 2004 and June 2005, a rise of just under 5%.
It said there were just over two million people in this category during the second quarter of this year.
The CSO said the numbers in work had increased by around 5% to more than 1.9 million, which is the highest annual growth rate in five years.
The numbers unemployed, meanwhile, increased by around 1.5% to 85,600, but the CSO said the official unemployment rate was down to 4.2% from 4.4% in June of last year.
