Job postings still 24% down on pre-Covid level - report

Job postings on recruitment website Indeed were 24 per cent down in early February compared with the same period last year, according to the company.

However it noted that despite more lockdowns, this figure has not returned to the low of -54 per cent seen in early June.

The research attempts to gauge how the Republic's labour market is faring one year on from the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in Ireland last February.

Indeed said the Irish jobs market is recovering, closing the gap on pre-Covid levels by 6 per cent this year.

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This reflects a pick-up in recruitment seen across Europe with Poland seeing the biggest recovery in job postings, up 10 per cent, followed by Italy, up 7 per cent.

Overall, Ireland's recovery is currently faring better than that of the UK or Spain, but is behind the other five EU countries examined in the report.

Indeed said recovery here had been uneven with only healthcare and manufacturing having job postings that exceeded their pre-pandemic baselines.

Sectors impacted most by social distancing remain far below those levels, including food and beverage (-62 per cent), customer and personal services (-45 per cent) and construction (-36 per cent).

"This past year has undoubtedly been one of the toughest on record for many dealing with job losses or business closures, but there is light at the end of the tunnel," Jack Kennedy, economist with Indeed said.

“A successful vaccine rollout could mean face-to-face service sectors like hospitality and food service could make a comeback later in the year,” he said.

“ This would be of significant benefit in helping to limit the rise in unemployment as these sectors are labour-intensive,” he said.

“ It would also benefit younger workers who have borne the brunt of the crisis, with the youth unemployment rate standing at 56 per cent on the Covid-adjusted measure,” he said.

The State’s Covid-adjusted unemployment rate jumped to 25 per cent in January as a full lockdown was reimposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which include those in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), indicate that as many as 607,000 may have been out of work in January.

This was up from 20 per cent in December but still three percentage points lower than the record 28 per cent recorded in April last year at the height of the first lockdown.