Fás reports rise in vacancies

A report by the state training and employment agency FÁS has said that the number of vacancies reported to it was up by 20% in the last quarter.

FÁS said the slowdown in the rate of unemployment is partly due to greater outward migration and to young people entering education instead of the workforce.

This latest quarterly commentary shows that the underlying rate of job losses has slowed significantly with the live register trend decelearating

While low-skilled employees have accounted for the majority of the job losses to date, the number of professionals seeking employment or training has rised to 84% year on year

Younger people have been the worst affected by the downturn, and this has contributed to a 60% year-on-year increase in the number of graduate seeking employment

FÁS is warning however that the employment outlook for 2010 remains weak given the economy is expected to contract again next year