Employment up, but wages ominous
UK Labour Market data released this morning show that the trend of rising employment and falling real wages is set to continue. At a UK-wide level, the decreases in unemployment are quite impressive, particularly for youth unemployment but figures for earnings at GB level paint a more sober picture...
Examining Unemployment Traps in the Republic of Ireland
As individuals transition from unemployment to employment they experience losses of welfare payments and entitlements, gains in earned gross income and they begin to pay income taxes and social insurance contributions on their earned income. To assess this impact it is possible to calculate a...
Latest data on youth unemployment
As shown in the latest Quarterly Economic Facts , the youth unemployment rate in Ireland over the opening five months of the year was just over 25 per cent, down from a recent high of 30.4 per cent in 2012. While this represents a considerable improvement, the proportion of young people unemployed...
Unemployment falls, but at a slower rate
The latest CSO data shows a stabilisation in unemployment rates when compared to the previous month. The standard unemployment rate is currently at 11.8% for May, identical to the rate in April, and 12.0% for the period January to March. This is equivalent to roughly 4,300 less people unemployed...
Monday Blog: Jobs, Wages, Homes
Following 6 years of declining or stagnant living standards many people are wondering what the future holds. The gathering crisis of accommodation and social housing has caught many by surprise. While there has been a welcome pick up in employment and a very modest fall in unemployment these changes...
Annual Dónal Nevin Lecture 2014
Professor Stephany Griffith Jones gave this presentation at the annual Dónal Nevin lecture 2014. The talk focused on the role public investment banks, such as Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) in Germany, can play in boosting Ireland’s economic recovery, and made specific proposals on how...
Employment creation slows to 1,700 as lone mothers left behind
In somewhat disappointing results (seasonally adjusted) employment grew by only 1,700 jobs in the first quarter of the year. In many ways 2013 can be seen as a blip in terms of job creation as various temporary factors (such as 'The Gathering', self-employed workers moving off Jobseekers Benefit...
Monday Blog: State Development Bank welcome
The announcement in Dublin, last week, by Government of the establishment of a Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) is a very welcome development. The timescale for its establishment, its mode of operation and delivery and the scale and impact of that delivery will be vital to an...
Irish underemployment over 20%
Despite improvements in the labour market Irish underemployment combined with unemployment is 22.3%. The underemployed figure includes those who are part-time unemployed and those who wish to work but are not actively seeking work. The underemployment rate has been falling more slowly than...
Unemployment and the European Union
In 2013, unemployment in Germany, at 5.3 per cent, was at its lowest level since reunification. In the same year, Spain’s unemployment rate, 26.4 per cent, was at its highest level since at least the 1960s, before which reliable statistics are more difficult to come by. Austrian unemployment is also...