The government received a boost yesterday in advance of the upcoming general election after a series of positive figures on jobs, tourism and migration were published.
The unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in over six years as the pace of job creation accelerated in the past 12 months. The tourism industry is on course for a record year and the number of Irish people emigrating has fallen to its lowest level since 2010.
Collectively the various figures, from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), were interpreted by the coalition as signs that the government’s policies are contributing to the country’s performance as the fastest growing economy in Europe.
Ireland’s unemployment rate fell to a six-year low of 9.5 per cent in June. The percentage of those in work has improved steadily since the jobless rate reached a high of 15.1 per cent in early 2012.
Employment grew in 11 of the 14 sectors of the economy measured and has grown in 11 consecutive quarters, the CSO said. A total of 57,100 jobs were created in the 12 months to the end of June, which represents a 3 per cent increase in employment for the year. There are now more people at work than at any time since early 2009.
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“This is very good news for Ireland. We’ll easily be the best performing economy in Europe this year,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist with Merrion Stockbrokers. Last year Ireland’s economy was the fastest growing in Europe with gross domestic product expanding by 5.2 per cent. The government has forecast 2015 growth of over 4 per cent.
The country’s export-dependent economy has benefited from a sharp fall in the value of the euro compared to the dollar and sterling in recent years. Domestic consumer demand, meanwhile, is improving after several years of stagnation.
The CSO figures on migration showed the number of Irish nationals leaving has fallen to its lowest level since 2010 with 35,000 opting to move abroad to live in the 12-month period to last April – down 5,400 annually. The number of Irish nationals returning home from abroad increased slightly in the year to April 2015 – up to 12,100 from 11,600.
The data also shows the number of returning emigrants is below levels experienced for most of the past two decades when an average of 21,700 Irish people returned home each year, even during some periods of relative high unemployment. The latest overall increase in immigration levels from 60,600 to 69,300 was largely driven by the arrival of non-EU nationals who accounted for more than half of the total.
The UK remains the most popular destination for all those emigrating from Ireland, accounting for around a quarter of all who left in the latest period. The number of people moving to Australia from Ireland fell to 7,500 from 10,000 and was well below the 2012 peak of 18,200 but numbers emigrating to Canada are up to 7,700 from 4,700 the previous year.
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In tourism, the CSO data showed the level of overseas tourists visiting the country so far this summer is up almost 12 per cent. A total of 2,589,300 foreign visitors arrived here between May and July – an increase of 11.8 per cent over the corresponding three months last year, representing an extra 273,600.
The latest CSO figures suggest Ireland is on target to record the highest-ever annual number of overseas tourists in 2015 to beat last year’s record of 7.6 million visitors.
In another sign of the recovery not petering out, monthly growth in residential property prices hit a four-month high in July after three months of consecutive falls. Prices grew faster outside of Dublin than in the capital, a sign that may ease concerns about a ‘two-speed’ recovery.
“Today’s figures provide further evidence that our economic recovery is broad-based,” Michael Noonan, the finance minister, said.
“This government’s policies are working with over 1,000 jobs a week created over the past twelve months. In the upcoming budget we will continue to support job creation and introduce measures which will continue to boost employment growth,” he added.
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Dara Calleary, the Fianna Fail spokesman on jobs, expressed concern that the figures showed a continuing “brain drain” based on the high level of qualified graduates who are choosing to leave the country to seek work abroad. The majority of those emigrating were either at work or studying in the period before they left with fewer than 1 in 7 being unemployed.
Mr Calleary, a Mayo TD, said an estimated 149,000 graduates had now left Ireland since the Fine Gael-Labour coalition came into power.
“It is a shame that having invested heavily in our young people’s education, we are losing so many highly qualified graduates to jobs in other countries,” Mr Calleary said. He said graduates were not being given sufficient support to gain experience and begin their careers in Ireland.