Official figures show that there was a big increase in the number of people in work in the first quarter of this year compared with a year earlier, when strict COVID-19 restrictions were in place.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that employment had risen across most areas of the economy over the year, with the biggest increase – just over 60% – in the accommodation and food-services sector.

The office added, however, that the total of 162,600 working in this area was still below the pre-pandemic level of 169,500.

In several other sectors, however, employment has climbed above pre-COVID levels, with the number working in information and communication up by 36,000 compared with the first quarter of 2020.

Fewer absences

Overall, the number of people in work in the first three months of 2022 increased by 275,200 (12.3%) over the year, to 2,505,800.

The unadjusted employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 was 72.8% – up from 65.6% a year earlier.

The CSO figures also show that the number of absences from work – including temporary lay-offs, family leave and holidays – fell by almost 46% from a year earlier to 168,100.

This was the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Record hours

Together with the jump in employment, this resulted in an increase of almost 18% in hours worked per week, to a record 80.8 million.

The number of people aged 15 to 74 who were unemployed in the first quarter of 2022 stood at 126,700, giving an unemployment rate of 4.8%.

The total number of people in the labour force was up by almost 10% from a year earlier, to 2,632,500.