Harney Welcomes Jobs Growth and Drop in Unemployment

Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, has today (Wednesday 13th October 1999) welcomed the latest employment figures identified in the Spring 1999 Quarterly National Household Survey which was released today by the Central Statistics Office.

Commenting on the Survey, the Tánaiste said "There are 96,600 additional people at work in the Irish economy compared with this time last year and the engine of this strong employment growth is the private sector."

"One of the most encouraging aspects of these figures is the fact that despite a growth in our labour force of 67,000 we have actually seen a decline of 30,000 in the numbers of unemployed. These figures mean that the Government's policies are working and that we are well on target to achieve and even exceed the aim of reducing unemployment to 5% and long-term unemployment to 2% by end year 2000, which I identified as my key goal in this year's Employment Action Plan," the Tánaiste said.

The Tánaiste concluded "it is also encouraging to see that the growth in the labour force of over 4% in the 12 months to Spring 99 has been achieved by increased participation from both men and women in the labour market."