Since 1994, however, strong economic growth has been associated with employment increases of around 4¾% per annum. In overall terms, employment is now almost 40% higher than in 1994. This large increase in employment has been facilitated by transfers from unemployment into employment as well as a significant increase in the size of the labour force.
The latter reflects the increase in the population of working age, increased participation and net inward migration. This has resulted in the employment rate for the active population increasing by around one-quarter between 1994 and this year.