Costello welcomes the sustained increase in numbers employed

29 August 2013

by Cllr Joe Costello

Joe Costello TD, the Minister for Trade and Development, has welcomed the latest employment figures from the Quarterly National Household Survey, which was published by the CSO today.   

The survey shows that there was an annual increase in employment of 1.8% or 33,800 in the year to the second quarter of 2013, bringing total employment to 1,869,900.  Moreover, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 13.8% to 13.7% over the quarter.   The number unemployed has now decreased by 6.9% over the past year.  This is the fourth quarter in succession in which unemployment has decreased on an annual basis, having been on a continuous upward trend since 2005.

“Labour in Government is committed to fixing our broken economy and getting people back to work.  Under the previous government, 250,000 people lost their jobs between 2008 and 2011. The latest figures show that almost 3,000 job are now being created each month.  While it will take time to recover, things are moving in the right direction.

“The Government has introduced 250 measures to support local business and attract investment from abroad as part of the Action Plans for Jobs.  These latest figures show that the Government’s actions are working.

“Undoubtedly, the focus on job activation schemes has contributed to the present situation whereby approximately 3,000 net jobs are being created monthly.

“These figures are very positive and shows how committed the Labour Party is to getting people back to work.”