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Jobs still up despite building drop

Cosntruction jobs - Drop of 5,600
Cosntruction jobs - Drop of 5,600

New figures show that employment in the construction industry fell back in the final quarter of last year, but overall employment still grew compared with the same period a year earlier.

The Central Statistics Office said there were just under 2.14 million people working in the final three months of 2007, up 66,800 or 3.2% on a year earlier.

But more than half of these new jobs were part-time, and 60% of them result from a surge in self-employment. The total also represented a drop of 7,000 compared with the previous quarter.

Unemployment was 101,000, up 10,700 over the year. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, compared with 4.5% in Q3.

Construction employment fell by 5,600, or 2%, over the year. The CSO says the number of employees in the sector fell by 15,200 over the year, but this was partly offset by a 9,500 rise in self-employed people in the industry. The only other sector to show an annual decline was 'other production industries'.

The retail and financial sectors continued to show strong growth, up 8.3% and 7.6% respectively. These accounted for two-thirds of the total employment increase.

For 2007 as a whole, employment grew by 73,200 or 3.6%, slower than the 4.5% growth recorded in 2006. Non-Irish workers accounted for almost three-quarters of the annual increase in employment. They accounted for 37% of workers in hotels and restaurants.

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has told the Dáil that 2008 will be a year of tight management of the economy, particularly on spending.

In response to a question from the Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, Mr Ahern said figures for the last quarter of 2007 show a substantial reduction in capital gains tax and a slowing in the construction sector.

But he said the economy was still close to target on manufacturing and exports and that the financial sector was weathering global fluctuation.