Economy now adding 1200 jobs per week
CSO statistics published yesterday also show that 22,500 jobs have been added across the country in the past three months; that the unemployment rate has decreased to 12.6% and that the long-term unemployment rate has decreased from 8.9% to 7.6% over the past year.
He was speaking at the publication of the seventh Action Plan for Jobs quarterly progress report, which reports on measures delivered and undelivered during Q3 2013. The system of quarterly progress reports is a key part of the Action Plan for Jobs architecture, ensuring that Government holds itself to account in public on implementation of measures to improve competitiveness and support job-creation, thereby maximising delivery rates.
Out of 122 measures due for implementation during Q3 2013, 102 have been delivered, representing a completion rate of 84%.
Among the impacts of the Action Plan for Jobs so far in 2013 are:
•Over 6,000 higher education places for unemployed & previously self-employed people via Springboard
•1650 ICT graduates via Springboard/ ICT graduate conversion programmes
•Over 2,200 meetings took place at the event with 647 companies participating in the International Markets Week, helping Irish companies increase their business in overseas markets
•Over 600 people have engaged with the ManagementWorks training and development programmes to help SMEs to improve their performance by building their managerial capability. Companies have reported that this has resulted in over 50 new jobs created and 280 jobs retained
•Visitors to Ireland up by 6.5%, supported by the Tourism Marketing Fund
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said:
It is now nearly two years since we first launched and started implementing the Action Plan for Jobs, and we are now really starting to see the results. Over seven quarters we have made hundreds of changes across 15 Departments and dozens of Agencies to improve supports for job-creation. When we took office, the economy was shedding well over 1600 jobs a week – today’s figures show that we are now adding more than 1200 per week. All sectors and all areas of the country are benefiting from the positive movement, and we are seeing substantial decreases in both the overall unemployment rate and the long-term rate. While many people are not yet feeling the impact of these changes and we have a long way to go, this is really positive movement in this crucial area. We in Government will continue working hard to improve competitiveness and employment supports and maintain this hugely positive momentum in job-creation.
The Taoiseach added:
Over 1,000 new jobs are being created every week and there are positive signs that business confidence is rising. There is still much more we have to do before we can claim that Ireland is the best small country in the world for business. We will continue to deliver on the reforms necessary to reduce business costs and to make Ireland more competitive.