Construction employment falls further

magoko101 · October 19, 2007, 8:37am

Taken from todays Irish Examiner Friday, 19 October 2007

EMPLOYMENT outlook in the construction sector has deteriorated considerably over the last 12 months, dropping by eight percentage points.
This is according to the latest FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey, which found that the number of firms reporting job vacancies in September increased to 14% from 12% the previous month.

The report showed that the increase in economy-wide vacancies was mainly driven by an increase in reported vacancies in the construction sector.

There was a three percentage point increase in reported vacancies in the construction sector in September to 8% from the previous month. Year-on-year vacancies in the sector have fallen by four percentage points.

The report also showed that the net employment expectations indicator for the construction sector was -18%, which means that the percentage of employers anticipating a decline in employment levels in their firms over the coming months is eight percentage points higher than that expecting a rise.

“The September 2007 net employment expectations indicator figure is the second-lowest the indicator figure has been for the sector since the start of this year. The three-month moving average has been trending downward throughout 2007.

“It fell by three percentage points to -17% in September 2007, the lowest this measure has been since December 2002, and 13 percentage points less than September 2006,” according to the report.

This time last year the economy-wide vacancy rate also stood at 14%.

For the fourth consecutive month the three-month moving average remained stable at 14%.