A report on the labour market by FAS and the Economic and Social Research Institute has said that overall employment in the private sector is expected to rise over the coming months.
Their employment and vacancies survey for the first quarter of this year found that employer expectations about future employment reached their most optimistic levels since June 2002.
The percentage of private sector firms reporting vacancies increased during the first three months of 2005, reaching 10% in March.
The services sector experienced the most significant increase in firms reporting vacancies, rising from 6% in December 2004 to 14% in March this year, but the percentage of retail sector firms reporting vacancies remained very low at 1%.
The report added, however, that employers in the retail sector were now more optimistic about future employment levels in their firms.
