By Business & Finance 
The latest Quarterly National Household Survey figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that the unemployment rate fell to 7.9% for April and all regions of the country saw a fall in unemployment in the past year.
The figures released today show a pick-up in the pace of employment growth with an additional 47,000 people finding jobs in the last year.
Employment has grown in 12 out of 14 economic sectors with largest increases recorded in accommodation and food service activities and construction.
Speaking today, Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor commented: “It is also very positive to see that the rate of unemployment fell across all regions of the country. The challenge is to ensure that we continue to sustain this progress that every county is affected by job creation. I want to ensure that we give the right supports to small business so that we encourage and enable more people to start their own business and create jobs right across the country. This will ensure that all regions benefit from the knock on societal effects of job growth.”
However, Dublin accounted for 57% of these, and its dominance is increasing.
Commenting on the figures Dr John McCartney, director of Research at Savills, said: “The focus on Dublin reflects the fact that some of Ireland’s big growth industries are services which tend to locate in cities. For example ICT grew by 4.2% it the last 12 months.”
The data also shows that administration and support services, an area that suffered severe cutbacks during the recession, has rebounded very strongly with 9.8% jobs growth in the last year.
Partly reflecting the pick-up in office building activity, construction employment has risen by 7.8% in the last year.
“The growth of these service industries clearly impacts on the demand for office accommodation.18 months ago there were concerns that we weren’t building enough new office blocks to meet this demand but, in the meantime, development activity has begun to respond,” said McCartney. “Currently there are around 40 office projects onsite and under construction in Dublin and these alone could supply enough space for around 25,000 workers.”
