State employment agency Fás said it expects employment growth to slow to 2.8 per cent in 2007 and that the number of people coming into Ireland to work from EU10 may fall.
In its latest quarter labour market commentary published today, Fás said at the end of last year there were 2.07 million at work and that the labour force had grown by 85,500 in 2006.
Fás also warned that growth in construction jobs will slow this year. It said the number of unemployed fell last year fell to 88,700, leaving the unemployment rate at 4.1 per cent last year.
Of the jobs created last year, over half (52,500) were in the services sector, 28,400 new jobs were created in construction while manufacturing created just 4,000 new jobs.
According to Fás, immigrants now comprise 11 per cent of the workforce and last year filled more than half of the jobs created last year. Immigrants were primarily employed in the construction, manufacturing, hospitality and retail sectors.
Brian McCormick, Fás economist and author of the report, said early PPS numbers indicated that although the numbers coming from the EU10 may have peaked, the inflow from Bulgaria and Romania could yet be significant.
He said 5,500 PPS numbers have already been allocated to employees from Romania and Bulgaria.
His report also notes that the ratio of people employed in manufacturing compared with construction has changed from 2:1 to 1:1. Employment in construction will continue to grow before tailing off at the end of the year, he added.