The ESRI carry out a monthly employment and vacancies survey for FÁS. This survey provides very useful up-to-date information on how the labour market is performing. The May survey did show a decline in the number of firms reporting vacancies from 22% to 16%. However, this does not indicate a decline in vacancy activity in the labour market. The previous months figure of 22% was unusually high with the average number of firms reporting vacancies over the last few months at 15%. Thus, the results of the May survey simply show a return to this trend. I understand from FÁS that there may be seasonal factors underpinning the change between April and May and as yet, there is no firm indication of a contraction in employment or vacancy activity.
The survey also provides information on employers' expectations regarding future employment growth. The May survey indicates that employers expect their current employment levels to remain more or less the same over the next few months. In addition, the most recent Quarterly National Household data issued by the Central Statistics Office shows that the labour force increased by 95,800 to 2,086,500 in the year with the number of persons in employment increasing by 89,800 or 4.7%. This continued strong growth indicates that the Irish labour market remains extremely buoyant.
