The jobs market in manufacturing remains buoyant judging by the number of job ads which rose sharply in the first quarter of 2006 compared to the same period last year, a survey shows.
The latest Bank of Ireland Business Banking job index published today, shows that 2,925 manufacturing jobs were advertised in the first three months of the year, a 43 per cent increase on 2005.
Commenting on the findings of the March Job Index, Cathal Muckian, director, Bank of Ireland Business Banking, said, "Despite the 43 per cent increase in manufacturing vacancies this quarter over the corresponding period in 2005, recruitment in this sector in March is the lowest reported so far this year.
"However, recruitment in the sector remains strong and there has been a marked increase in euro zone manufacturing activity this year," he added.
Despite a recovery in the European technology sector and recent job creation announcements by Yahoo, Google, Amazon and Version 1 Software, recruitment in the IT sector remains weak nationally, Bank of Ireland said.
However, Eurocom's annual IT confidence survey showed that 58 per cent of firms in the sector expect to increase jobs over the next 12 months, while a skills shortage is cited as one of the most likely threats to growth in the sector.
Bank of Ireland's chief economist Dr Dan McLaughlin, said that while official statistics show unemployment was unchanged in March for the fifth consecutive month at 4.5 per cent, labour supply is being broadly matched by job creation.
Dr McLaughlin speculated that the divergence between a weaker jobs index and unchanged unemployment may be due to the increasing growth of online recruitment at the expense of traditional newspaper ads.