A total of 2.55m people, or 73.5% of the working-age population, were in employment in the second quarter, up from 68.6% in Q2 2021 and surpassing pre-Covid employment levels, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). 

The 2.55m total represents an increase of 205,000 or 8.7% year-on-year, and is the highest figure recorded since the start of the series began in early 1998. 

As well as an overall increase in employment, the CSO recorded a 9.4% surge in the number of hours worked per week across the period, bringing the number of hours worked to a record high of 83m. 

During Q2, the health and social work sector saw the biggest change in employment with 331,000 people employed in the sector, an increase of 26,000 from the same period last year when 305,000 individuals worked in the industry. 

The wholesale sector also grew in employment in Q2 2022 with 321,200 jobs in Q2 2022 against a figure of 321,700 in Q2 2021. 

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In contrast, the agriculture sector saw a dip in employment, with a workforce of 106,000 people compared to 108,000 during the same time last year. Across all sectors of the economy agriculture was the only one to see an overall decline in its employment levels in Q2 2022. 

Commenting on the figures, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar said: "More people are employed in Ireland now than ever before. The unemployment rate in July of this year was the lowest it’s been in 21 years.

"That is incredible given where we were a couple of years ago, with the pandemic and Brexit, and the current challenges we are now facing with Putin’s war and inflation. It is a testament to the hard work and remarkable resilience of Irish enterprise."

He added: "The bounce back in the hospitality sector is another highlight. Although not yet back to where it once was, employment in the Accommodation and Food Service sector increased by 40% in the past 12 months.

"The last two years have been especially challenging for businesses and workers in that sector, but it appears our strong policy interventions during the pandemic – effectively keeping workers attached to employment - has minimised any long-term scaring."

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said it was encouraging that the number of young people and women in work had risen, but warned that "indicators suggest a moderation of economic activity and this could slow the pace of employment growth in the second half of the year and into next year."

Elsewhere, the absence rate on account of reasons such as sick leave or family decreased from 9.4% in Q2 2021 to 7.3% in the same period in 2022.

Sectors in Ireland have seen an overall decrease in work absences, with the accommodation sector experiencing a fall in the absence rate of 21.5% in Q2 2021 when Covid was still widespread to 6.9% in Q2 2022. The construction sector’s absence rate fell from 9.3% to 4.7% in the same period. 

The unemployment rate for Q2 2022 was 4.5%, leaving 119,900 people classified as unemployed. This is a decrease from Q2 2021 where 184,100 people were recorded as unemployed.

According to the CSO, seven out of ten people in unemployment last quarter were in short-term unemployment, and the long-term unemployment rate decreased from 2.0% in Q2 2021 to 1.2% in 2022. 

(Pic: Getty Images)