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.