The accommodation and food services sector suffered the largest fall in employment during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Central Statistics Office.
Five years on from the first Covid lockdowns, the research looks at the impact on employment, earnings and air travel. The study found that employment in the accommodation and food sector fell by 38%, or 68,700 people, between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020.
The next largest decrease in employment was in the administrative and support services sector. "Interestingly, two economic sectors, Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities and Information & Communication, saw no decline in the numbers of people in employment during the pandemic," said Colin Hanley, CSO Statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the total number of people in employment was 2.4 million, which fell to a low point of 2.2 million in second quarter of 2020.