The unemployment rate has fallen from a peak of about one in six people unemployed to just under one in twenty. 4 We see some evidence that the labour market has started to tighten, with spare capacity diminishing.5 Earnings have also grown in all sectors of the Irish labour market.
Average hourly earnings are experiencing the fastest rate of growth since 2009.6 Although data for the nal quarter is not yet available, underlying domestic demand – a measure of how much we consume and the government spends, and underlying investment – shows the economy grew by around 4 per cent last year.