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Not Good Bed-time Reading – Labour Force Figures
Read more about: Economy, Ireland, News, Unemployment 
That graph made me wince…
The Quarterly National Household Survey (figures on unemployment) figures for the first quarter of 2009 were released today. You can read the document in PDF format here.
There are now 222,800 (10.2%) members of the labour force unemployed. This time last year that figure was 109,400. That is a 103% increase over 12 months. I’ve been looking at the details and will try and give you some figures that may not be covered in tomorrow’s papers, though you can check out The Irish Times also, who were the first to get reports online.
Back to the numbers – the figures from this quarter compared against the fourth quarter of 2008 show that 53,100 people became categorised as unemployed between the end of Q4 2008 and the end of Q1 2009 alone.
Certain demographics – those most would expect – have been severely impacted. Full-time male employment fell by 137,000 over the last 12 months (lifting male unemployment from 9.8% to 12.8%), this compares with the equivalent numbers for females falling by just 39,200 (female unemployment went from 5.5% to 6.8%. Part-time employment increased – though five times the number of males than females are now employed part-time (this is due to carpenters, electricians etc going on three-day weeks and the likes – 15,000 males and 3,000 females are now part-time).
Construction was hit worst, down 62,100 jobs – almost 30% over the last year.
The demographics that are being most adversely impacted can be seen when you study the demographic tables. The percentage of males between the ages of 15 and 64 with a lower secondary education (up to Junior Cert level) unemployed has doubled in since Q1 last year. From 9.3% to 18.9%. It would be safe to assume that much of this demographic would have worked as labourers or semi-skilled workers on building sites – compare this to their female counterparts whose levels of unemployment have risen by relatively little( 1/3 from 6.4% to 9.1%).
One other interesting aspect was the reported decline in participation in the labour force – I found the following paragraph tricky to translate from document-speak to everyday-English…
…the labour force is also affected by changes in the number of persons of working age in the state (demographic effect). The increase due to demographic effects has fallen from a level of almost 53,000 in Q1 2008 to just over 1,000 in Q1 2009. In recent years labour force growth has primarily been driven by demographic growth which in turn has primarily been driven by net inward migration. At its peak in Q1 2006 labour force growth was over 100,000 in the year and 70% of this was due to net inward migration. The fall off in demographic growth in recent quarters has been due principally to lower net inward migration.
Awful bloody language but it seems to mean that the number of migrant workers entering the labour force has plummeted to a fraction (about 3%) of what it was 12 months ago. So, the Libertas measures would not have been needed anyway…
Also included in the report is a table that allows one to compare figures from across the 27 EU states. Briefly, unemployment in Ireland in Q4 2007 was at 4.5%, 2.3% below the average unemployment of the EU27 (6.8%). In Q4 2008 unemployment in Ireland was at 7.6%, above the increased EU27 average of 7.3%. They’re climbing, we’re rocketing.
Unemployment is real and becoming “more real” by the week. Alternatives to general employment must be found. I have invested €300 , have five domains and 50+ web pages. I have set up my own web hosting company and design. It is not that difficult! I now have an interest and a potential source of income. I did it in 3 months
The feudal era died with the industrial era. The indutrial era died with the automation era leading to an environmentally and socially unsustainable glut in production.
But nobody seems to see what is happening. The multinationals and the politicians in thir pocket see vast wealth for the few in an endless supply of exploitable labour which will take us back to a new version of feudalism. The leaderless and sullen workforce or mass of the population living in cities with no visible means of support is in dissarray.
Learning from history, the solution is a fair distribution of wealth, something which has never happened before, or more wars which are already on the horison.
The choice is now open to us but for how long?
I must confess to being dubious about the figures on foreign-nationals, many of whom work in the underground-economy. That is a phenomenon of all Western countries.
This my favorite song but I don’t know where to find it. Thoughts 1993,1995,1997,99,2001,2002, etc. and 2015 copyright to song. I want you to welcome me at in the houe of presciseance. It would be cool, so jushcu at that it will began in my 3-mail(Ss,). It was soon tried to be the song of her richest in one of her husbands. Than the was one gloomr goaly school stat. Than itwhe would be become at a hanker and at the trying at th echool of the a day of the 1st sunnings. Than there was a yellow distaster be pool school at the end of he 3stars. Than it was in m little who stop it and than in my hodnda civic cx 1997. It was soo extrememtly, expelle, experienced, experienced, and than soon was it retired thata thre was a school song and it would be gttter to be the thisiiiiiiiirt and to be the their would be no notify and there it would could bbe I the school of the a day to be in the school of april-au. 2009 and than there wll be in the house of the littelg g-stoned sculpture. And then it the teaers fo the blue wndow of the sesplus will be in the little expired and it would be in the hospital. Amen,amen,anmen,amen oo comeane out. Amen!…….