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Catch up on useful stats

Stats released by the Central Statistics Office in the past month show the latest unemployment rate for August 2016 stands at 8.3%, while the QNHS stats show total employment has risen above 2 million. There were also positive figures for the tourism and retail sectors.

Total employment surpasses 2 million

The Quarterly National Household Survey for Q2 2016 was also released in August showing an annual increase in employment of 2.9% or 56,200 in the year to the second quarter of 2016, bringing total employment to 2,014,900. This compares with an annual increase in employment of 2.4% in the previous quarter and an increase of 3.0% in the year to Q2 2015.

Monthly unemployment rate of 8.3% in August 2016

  • The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August 2016 was 8.3%, unchanged from the revised July 2016 and down from 9.1% in August 2015.
  • The seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed was 181,600 in August 2016, down from 183,300 when compared to the July 2016 figure and a decrease of 15,400 when compared to August 2015.

See the CSO's website for more information.

Trips to Ireland up 12.7% in first seven months of 2016

  • At 5.427 million visits, overall trips to Ireland were up 12.7% in the first seven months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.
  • Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 11.6% for January to July 2016 (1,911,200 visits);
  • North America registered an increase of 15.5% for January – July 2016 (990,100 visits);
  • Visits from Great Britain were up by 13.9% for January – July 2016 (2,224,900 visits).
  •  Visits from the rest of the world, mostly long-haul and developing markets, were up by 3% totalling 300,800 visits.

See CSO's Overseas Travel report for more information.

6.3% increase in annual retail sales

  • The volume of retail sales increased by 12.6% in July 2016 when compared with June 2016 and there was an increase of 6.3% in the annual figure. 
  • The sectors with the largest month on month volume increases were Motor Trades (+12.5%), Furniture & Lighting, (+5.3%) and Books, Newspapers and Stationery (+2.0%).
  • The sectors with the largest monthly decreases were Clothing, Footwear & Textiles (-2.5%), Other Retail Sales (-2.4%) and Food, Beverages & Tobacco (-0.9%). 

See CSO's Retail Sales Index for more information.

For more information

The full listing of CSO releases is available on the CSO's website.