Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that strong growth in employment continued in the final three months of 2006.
The Quarterly National Household Survey showed that 2,066,100 people were in work in the fourth quarter, up 85,500 on a year earlier. This represented an increase of 4.3%, an acceleration from the 4.2% growth in the third quarter of 2006.
An extra 28,400 construction jobs and 18,700 health jobs accounted for more than half of the increase. Finance and education also showed strong growth. The CSO's tentative estimate says more than half of the employment growth came from foreign workers.
The total number of people in the labour force grew by 82,900 in the year to just over 2.15 million, with more than a third of this coming from the 10 new countries which joined the EU in 2004. The CSO estimates that 215,500 foreign nationals are working, while 14,300 are unemployed. Foreign workers account for just over 10% of the workforce.
Overall, unemployment fell 2,600 over the year to 88,700. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from 4.4% in Q3 to 4.2%.
