Number of employed and unemployed grew in the second quarter of 2023 compared to one year ago

release 25/07/2023 | Labour force survey 2023, 2nd quarter

Correction

Industry data of the labour force survey for the third quarter of 2023 and corrected industry data for the first and second quarters have been published

Population aged 15 to 74 by labour force status in the second quarter of 2022 and 2023

	2022/Q2, 1000 persons	2023/Q2, 1000 persons	Change, 2022/Q2 - 2023/Q2, 1000 persons	Change, 2022/Q2 - 2023/Q2, %
Population total	4 119	4 126	7	0,2
Active population total	2 865	2 910	46	1,6
- employed	2 659	2 679	20	0,8
- unemployed	206	232	26	12,5
Inactive population	1 254	1 215	-39	-3,1

Key selections

The average number of employed persons in the second quarter of 2023 was 2,679,000, which was 20,000 more than in the corresponding period of 2022.
There were 14,000 more employed women and 6,000 more employed men than in the second quarter of 2022.
The number of employed persons increased most in manufacturing (C) and administrative and support service activities (N) in the second quarter of 2023.
In April to June 2023, the number of hours worked by employed persons decreased by 0.7 per cent from twelve months back.

Number of employed grew but hours worked fell slightly

In the second quarter (April to June) of 2023, the average number of employed persons was 2,679,000, or 20,000 more than in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

The number of employed persons increased most in manufacturing (C) and administrative and support service activities (N).

The number of hours worked by employed persons was 1,038.5 million hours in the second quarter of 2023, which was 0.7 per cent lower than a year ago.

Number of unemployed grew, the inactive population decreased

The average number of unemployed persons in the second quarter of 2023 was 232,000, which was 26,000 more than in April to June 2023. The unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2023 was 8.0 per cent, having been 7.2 per cent one year earlier.

In April to June 2023, the number of persons in the inactive population was 1,215,000, which was 39,000 fewer than a year earlier.