Revisions point to Ireland’s labour market in a healthier place
This morning’s CSO data show employee numbers grew by 2.0% to 2.58 million in December. This is a welcome bounce-back in the pace of job creation from the subdued 0.6% growth initially estimated for November. The fresh jobs data also follow the CSO’s sharp downward revision to the Irish unemployment rate to 4.7% in January, down from 5% initially estimated forQ4. Ireland’s labour market is clearly in a better place than the CSO’s data first indicated.
Together the revisions mean the headline measure of employment growth, due to be published in next week’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) will likely pick-up from the relatively subdued 1.1% growth to 2.8 million recorded in Q3 2025. That said, the bigger picture remains that Ireland’s rate of job creation is still slowing to a more sustainable pace, down from the 3%+ rates seen in recent years, which were sustained by exceptional levels of net inward migration. So today’s data give us more confidence in our forecast that Irish employment will grow 1.5% in 2026.
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