FAS/ESRI EMPLOYMENT AND VACANCIES SURVEY: JUNE 2007

Key findings of the survey for the month of June 2007:

• The percentage of firms reporting vacancies in the private sector fell by one percentage point to 12%;

• The decrease in economy-wide vacancies was driven by a decrease in reported vacancies in the retail and services sectors;

• Reported vacancies in the construction sector increased by 2 percentage points to 8%;

• After remaining stable at 15% for the past four months, the percentage of firms reporting vacancies in the industry sector increased by 3 percentage points to 18%;

• Reported vacancies in the services sector fell by 2 percentage points to 17%, while in the retail sector reported vacancies declined to 1%;

• The Net Employment Expectations indicator for all sectors fell by 2 percentage points but continued to be positive at 2%, which indicates that the percentage of employers expecting a rise in employment levels in their firms over the coming months is 2 percentage points higher than that predicting a decrease;

• Construction sector employment expectations improved compared to May. However, a higher proportion of employers in the sector still expect employment levels to fall rather than rise over the coming few months: the Net Employment Expectations indicator for the sector increased by 5 percentage points to -9%;

• The employment outlook of industry sector employers improved slightly but a bigger percentage still anticipate that employment levels in the sector will decrease instead of increasing over the next three months. 

• Retail sector employers’ sentiment regarding future employment levels in their sector fell as did those in the services sector;

• The most frequently reported difficult-to-fill vacancies in each sector were:

Construction: Drivers, quantity surveyors and managers
Industry: Engineers, managers and sales personnel
Retail: Managers and mechanics
Services: Managers and accountants and insurance staff

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