On February 17 th 2022, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the Labour Force Survey for Quarter 4 2021. This is the publication that, in keeping with the International Labour Market (ILO) definitions, provides Ireland’s official employment and unemployment figures.
Unemployment 2021
To be classified as unemployed a respondent to the Survey has to answer yes to two questions: that they have been actively seeking work over the past four weeks; and that they are available to take up work over the following two weeks. There are many reasons why people might answer ‘no’ to one or other of these questions including little success in finding work can be discouraging in maintaining an on-going job search; lack of affordable or accessible transport; caring responsibilities that may take time to find suitable alternative provision.
To capture these realities and the implications for the labour market, the CSO produce a statistic called the Potential Additional Labour Force. The CSO also produce a statistic called the Principle Economic Status which allows people to classify themselves rather than be defined or classified. The options include being employed or unemployed or on home duties or retired. Many people would be familiar with this question as it is contained in the Census.
| Quarters | No. of People Unemployed | Principle Economic Status | Potential Additional Labour Force | ||||||
| Overall | Women | Men | Overall | Women | Men | Overall | Women | Men | |
| Q4 2021 | 127,400 | 59,200 | 68,100 | 165,900 | 72,200 | 93,700 | 103,500 | 54,100 | 49,400 |
| Q3 2021 | 149,100 | 70,500 | 78,600 | 185,700 | 84,300 | 101,400 | 106,000 | 58,200 | 47,800 |
| Q2 2021 | 184,100 | 84,600 | 99,500 | 218,800 | 99,900 | 118,900 | 178,200 | 95,400 | 82,800 |
| Q1 2021 | 170,500 | 77,000 | 93,500 | 293,500 | 141,700 | 151,900 | 210,700 | 111,500 | 99,200 |
| Q4 2020 | 141,700 | 63,000 | 78,800 | 249,600 | 121,000 | 128,600 | 173,100 | 97,700 | 75,300 |
Looking at the changes in these figures is helpful, as it gives better sense about the numbers of people who are out of work and would like a job, all other things being equal. A particular striking feature of these figures is that the official number of men unemployed is higher than the number of women over the past five quarters. This also holds true for the Principle Economic Status, though as a respondent is only allowed to tick one box there is a distinct possibility that some women who chose the ‘home duties’ option may also have ticked the ‘unemployed’ option if that was possible. In this regard looking at the Potential Additional Labour Force (PALF) is interesting as it tells a different story: over the past five quarters the PALF figure is higher for women than men.
Key Rates 2021
The table below looks at the participation rate and the unemployment rate from an age and gender perspective at the end of the past three years: in effect pre-Covid-19, in the midst of it, starting to emerge out of it. The participation rate comes from the Labour Force (number of people employed + number of people unemployed) divided by the population; and the unemployment rate comes from the numbers of people unemployed divided by the Labour Force.
| Age Groups | Overall Participation Rate | Female Participation Rate | Male Participation Rate | ||||||
| Q4 2019 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2021 | Q4 2019 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2021 | Q4 2019 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2021 | |
| 15-24 | 46.6 | 41.0 | 53.3 | 46.0 | 40.3 | 55.2 | 47.0 | 41.6 | 51.6 |
| 25-34 | 84.7 | 82.8 | 88.5 | 78.9 | 77.4 | 83.8 | 90.7 | 88.3 | 93.2 |
| 35-44 | 84.6 | 83.1 | 86.7 | 77.5 | 75.6 | 80.9 | 92.1 | 91.1 | 92.9 |
| 45-54 | 82.1 | 81.1 | 83.3 | 74.2 | 73.9 | 77.3 | 90.1 | 88.4 | 89.5 |
| 55-59 | 72.8 | 73.1 | 78.1 | 64.4 | 66.6 | 71.5 | 81.5 | 79.9 | 84.8 |
| 60-64 | 56.4 | 54.3 | 59.2 | 48.0 | 44.5 | 52.8 | 64.9 | 64.3 | 65.8 |
| 65-74 | 19.7 | 19.1 | 21.8 | 13.5 | 11.7 | 13.3 | 25.9 | 26.7 | 30.5 |
| Total | 62.6 | 60.6 | 65.1 | 56.5 | 54.5 | 60.1 | 68.9 | 66.9 | 70.3 |
| Age Groups | Overall Unemployment Rate | Female Unemployment Rate | Male Unemployment Rate | ||||||
| Q4 2019 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2021 | Q4 2019 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2021 | Q4 2019 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2021 | |
| 15-24 | 9.6 | 14.2 | 10.2 | 8.4 | 14.9 | 9.7 | 10.7 | 13.6 | 10.8 |
| 25-34 | 4.7 | 7.4 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 6.5 | 3.3 | 5.1 | 8.3 | 5.7 |
| 35-44 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 3.8 |
| 45-54 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
| 55-59 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 3.5 |
| 60-64 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 6.2 | 3.4 | 6.3 | 5.3 |
| 65-74 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Total | 4.5 | 5.9 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 4.9 |
The overall participation rate is back to late 2008 levels, and the rate has increased for both men and women over the past number of years. The overall rate is up across all of the age ranges, but this does not hold true when examined from a gender perspective. For men aged 45-54 years their participation rate was slightly lower in Q4 2021 than it was in Q4 2019. The same is true for women aged 65-74 years. Another striking feature is that the only age group where the female participation rate is higher than the male rate is in the 15-24 age group.
Unemployment rates overall and for women and men are back under 5%, but a little higher than they were in Q4 2019. Looking at the figures from an age perspective the picture is more mixed: 0.6% higher for young people, 1-2% higher for older unemployed people. Looking at the age breakdown from a female perspective, all age groups are up with the exception of women aged 25-34. The same holds true for men, but the age group with the lower unemployment rate in Q4 2021 in comparison to Q4 2019 are those aged 45-54 years.
The Labour Force Survey Q4 2021 is available linked here .