THE NUMBERS at work and average earnings across the economy continued to fall in the third quarter of the year, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office yesterday.
When seasonal factors are stripped out of the data, total employment in the State fell by 23,500 on the previous three-month period of April-June. This decline, of 1.3 per cent quarter on quarter, was the largest in a year.
Figures on the numbers out of work, some of which are more up to date than the at-work numbers, show that the rise in joblessness in the third quarter was reversed in October and November. From a 16-year peak in July of 13.7 per cent, unemployment had declined to 13.2 per cent by November.
More detailed figures on unemployment, which are available only on a quarterly basis, show that the proportion of those out of work for more than a year continues to rise rapidly and is now approaching half of the total.
Among males, it has already passed that threshold. More than 52 per cent of all men who were unemployed in the third quarter of 2010 have been out of work for 12 months or more. Among women, the proportion was one-third.
The figures show that the shake-out in the construction sector continues to account for the largest share of job losses. In seasonally adjusted terms, the numbers in the industry declined by almost 11,600 in just three months. The 113,800 people employed in construction in the July-September quarter is less than half the number working in the sector when it peaked in 2007.
The second largest category of job losses was in the “professional, scientific and technical” sector, where a quarterly fall of 3,700 was recorded. This was followed by financial services, insurance and real estate, which recorded a decline of 3,500 over the previous three-month period.
The figures also provide further evidence that the economy’s export-focused sectors, which have been growing strongly by most measures, are not generating net new employment.
The industrial sector, which is dominated by manufacturing exporters, has seen the value and volume of output rise sharply throughout the year. Despite this, the numbers employed in the sector continued to fall in the third quarter, declining by 3,000 on the quarter, to stand at 237,400.
Three of the 13 industries for which employment numbers are published registered growth in employment in the third quarter when compared to the second. Transport and storage and the information and communication sectors both experienced modest growth in net job numbers, with the latter reaching an all-time high of 74,000.
A separate set of figures, also released yesterday by the CSO, showed weak labour market conditions being reflected in wages and salaries. In the third quarter of 2010, earnings fell on the previous quarter by over 1 per cent.
Average weekly earnings stood at €685.10. This represents a fall of almost 5 per cent since the peak in the final quarter of 2008, when average weekly earnings stood at €720.57. Weekly earnings in the private sector stood at €607.56 in the July-September quarter. This represented a 5.7 per cent dip from the 2008 peak. In the public sector, weekly earnings stood at €902.54. The percentage decline was of the same magnitude as in the private sector, but has occurred in a shorter period. Earnings in the public sector peaked in the final quarter of 2009.