Manufacturing biggest Clare employer

The manufacturing industry sector is the biggest employer in County Clare, according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office.

 

The total labour force for Clare is 56,148, with 6,473, or 14.2%, of the people at work in the county employed in the industrial sector in 2011. This is down from a total of 7,364 males and females working in the sector when the last census was carried out in 2006.

The largest number of employees working in the manufacturing sector live in Ennis, with 1,339 residing in the county capital. The total number of manufacturing workers also includes 1,122 living in Shannon, 220 in Sixmilebridge, 136 in Newmarket-on-Fergus and 52 living in Kilrush.

The second-largest employer in the county was the wholesale and retail trade sector, accounting for 5,621 jobs, or 12.3% of the total labour force. This is a slight decrease from 5,636 in 2006.

The construction industry makes up 5.4% of the total workforce, with 2,475 employed in the sector in 2011. This is more than half of the figure of 6,071 for construction workers in 2006.

Bucking the national trend, the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry accounts for 8.4% of employment compared with 5.2% for the State overall. In 2011, 3,840 were employed in the industry, up from 2006’s figures of 3,213.

In other industry sectors, health and social work made up 9.8% of the workforce; education 9.4%; real estate, renting and business activities 7.7%, hotels and restaurants 6.5%; transport, storage and communications 6.2%; public administration and defence 5.8%; other community, social and personal services 4%; banking and financial services 3.4%; electricity, gas and water supply 1.1% and mining quarrying and turf production accounting for 0.2%. A further 5.6% put industry not stated on the census. 
According to the CSO, the total unemployment in the county was 10,542 giving an unemployment rate of 18.8% compared with 19% for the State as a whole. Of these, 737 were first-time job seekers.
Of those unemployed in County Clare in April 2011, 18.3% were non-Irish nationals compared with 19.5% for the State overall.

The Central Statistics Office released the latest publication in its series of Census 2011 results. Profile 3 At Work – Employment, Occupations and Industry in Ireland, is the third Profile report examining census results in more detail and presents first results on detailed  industry and occupations, along with further analysis of the labour market .

The report looks at the industries and occupations  rising  and falling as well as examining unemployment  with  regard  to  immigration, education and other social and demographic factors.