The CSO has compiled a "snapshot" of Ireland two years after COVID-19 hit our shores and caused turmoil throughout the economy.
Employment increased by 229,1000 or 10.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021, exceeding 2.5m persons for the first time on record, according to the Central Statistics Office (CShttps://www.cso.ie/en/O).
In its 'Impact of COIVD-19 on our Society and Economy: Two Years On' study, the CSO provided a "snapshot" of the impact the pandemic has had on Ireland since early 2020, with Covid-adjusted monthly unemployment measured at 7.8% in January.
That's an increase from 7.4% in December but a decline from the 27.1% rate measured a year prior while the most recent Live Register data showed 410,551 fewer persons in receipt of PUP last month than at the end of January 2021.
The accommodation and food service sector saw the largest employment gains across the economy in 2021, having been decimated by the various lockdowns, adding 37,100 (+29.8%) jobs last year.
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The sector was still reliant on government supports to stay afloat, however, with Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments making up 51.6% of total earnings compared to 22.5% of earnings in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry.
That bears out in the figures for social protection expenditure, which rose 20% in the first year of the pandemic to €58.2bn, constituting €21.5bn on healthcare, €15.1bn on old age and €7.8bn on unemployment -- triple the €2.7bn spent in 2019.
The increase in employment reflects the improving health of the wider economy, with GDP rising 14.5% in the first nine months of 2021 year-on-year and by 21.7% compared to the same period of 2019.
The depths of the lockdown can be seen clearly in spending data, which shows household expenditure on goods and services fell €10bn in 2020, with spending on restaurants and hotels falling by €6.5bn, although outlay on alcohol rose €500m.
Household savings during the period of January 2020 to September 2021, meanwhile, totalled €54bn, compared to €20.8bn in the 21-month period to the end of September 2019, while house prices rose 14.4% nationally in the 12 months to the end of December as median average price of a home rose to €280,000.
Retail spending was 2.2% lower in December 2021 compared to a year earlier with volume decreases seen in the motor trade (-18%), electrical goods (-8.5%) and other retail sales (-8.4%), which could be explained by inflation of 5.5%, rising to 18% in transport and 11.8% in housing, water, electricity gas and other fuels.
The rising price of rough timber (+43%), structural steel and reinforcing metal (+17%) and other structural steel (+44.7%) has been partially blamed for rising house prices, and households have also borne the brunt of the 160.6% increase in wholesale energy prices experienced last year.
Transport data shows some sort of return to normality with a 19.6% increase in Dublin car traffic between the start and end of January while the number of bus and rail journeys last month rose from 2.1m to 3.1m, although the total is still short of pre-Covid levels.
The number of new cars licensed rose 21% from 84,309 to 101,853 last year, while the number of electric cars licensed increased 117% from 3,940 to 8,554. Some 4.5m overseas visitors flew to and from Ireland in 2021, well short of the 20m recorded in 2019.
Finally, mortality data from the Department of Health shows there have been 6,200 Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland over the past two year, 1,000 of which occurred during the first month of 2021, showing the ongoing toll of the pandemic as we emerge from Omicron.
(Pic: Getty Images)
