The number of people at work in Ireland rose by 11 per cent to more than two million from April 2011 to the same month in 2016, according to new figures derived from Census 2016.
During the same period the number of people looking after the home and/or family continued to decline, dropping 10.1 per cent to 305,556. In addition, the number of retired people in Ireland rose by 88,013 people or 19.2 per cent to 545,407.
Overall, there were 2.3 million in the labour force as of April 2016, up 3.2 per cent or 71,834 people from five years earlier.
The labour force participation rate fell to 61.4 per cent, however, due to the increase in the number of retired people.
In terms of employment, the Census reports there were 2,006,641 people at work last April, as against 1,807,360 five years previously.
The unemployment rate as measured by the Census was 12.9 per cent, down from 19 per cent in April 2011. The number of unemployed youths recorded fell by 34,125 or 41.5 per cent to bring the youth employment rate down to 25.6 per cent from 38.7 per cent.
The top occupational group was composed of people working in the retail sector, followed by farmers, “other administrative occupations” and nurses and midwives.
Employment in the information technology (IT) sector showed the largest increase over the five-year period, rising by 21,262, or almost 56 per cent, to reach 59,376 in 2016. This was followed by residential care and social work activities, which jumped 24 per cent from 82,900 to 102,700.
The largest decreases in employment were in the financial services sector, which declined from 54,027 to 46,674, and in public administration, down nearly 5,000 to 83,687.
