CSO data reveals uptick in finance and insurance jobs

The number of people employed in the financial services, insurance and real-estate sectors in the Republic has climbed by almost 7 per cent in the past year, reflecting steady growth in hiring over the past two years, new Central Statistics Office (CSO) data indicates.

An estimated 128,100 people were employed in those sectors in July, a small decline of about 100 since June, but up 6.9 per cent from 120,200 people in July 2022, according to the seasonally adjusted payroll estimates.

A CSO spokesman said financial services companies, insurers and property-related companies had been steadily increasing hiring since the middle of 2021.

A Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland and Federation of International Banks in Ireland report published earlier this year indicated that Ireland is now the sixth biggest exporter of financial services globally. More than 14,200 people were employed by international banks in Ireland, an increase of more than 16 per cent compared with 2019.

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Meanwhile, the food services and accommodation sector suffered the worst monthly decline in July from the previous month with the number of people employed falling 3.7 per cent. It is understood that the drop-off, coming as it did in the middle of the busy summer tourism season, may have been lower and is subject to change when the estimates are revised.

The decline could also relate model used to adjust the figures for seasonal effects, which may have to be revised due to the severe impact of the pandemic on tourism-adjacent businesses.

However, there is some indication that the food and hotel sectors contracted in the month due to poor trading conditions in what Met Éireann has described, provisionally, as the wettest July on record. CSO data published earlier this month showed a sharp 5.5 per cent fall in the value of bar and pub sales in July food, beverages and tobacco also down by 4.3 per cent compared with July 2022.