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FAS/ESRI EMPLOYMENT AND VACANCIES SURVEY: March 2008

Key findings of the survey for the month of March 2008:

• The percentage of firms reporting vacancies in the private sector remained unchanged at 10%. However, compared to this time last year the economy-wide vacancy rate has fallen by 5 percentage points;

• Reported vacancies in the construction sector continued to decline, falling by 5 percentage points to 3%. This is the lowest the vacancy rate has been in this sector since the survey began in May 2002. Compared to this time last year the vacancy rate in the sector has fallen by 7 percentage points;

• The percentage of firms reporting vacancies in the industry sector increased by 2 percentage points to 17%, which maintains the upward trend that began in January 2008;

• The percentage of firms reporting vacancies in the retail sector fell by 7 percentage points to 2%, while there was a 4 percentage point increase in the number of firms reporting vacancies in the services sector to 14%;

• After improving in February, employers' employment outlook deteriorated somewhat in March with the Net Employment Expectations indicator for all sectors falling by 8 percentage points to -7%. This indicates that the percentage of employers expecting a fall in employment levels in their firms over the coming months is 7 percentage points higher than that predicting an increase;

• Construction sector employers' employment outlook declined substantially with the Net Employment Expectations indicator for the sector falling by 11 percentage points to -42%. Construction employers were pessimistic about future employment in the sector this time last year, but this month's Net Employment Expectations indicator suggests that their outlook has deteriorated dramatically since then;

• Industry sector employers' employment outlook improved. However, a higher proportion of firms in the sector still expect employment levels to fall rather than rise over the coming months;

• There was no change in retail sector employers' employment outlook, while there was a considerable decline in service sector employers' future employment outlook. The Net Employment Expectations indicator for this sector fell by 13 percentage points to -2%, which is 10 percentage points less compared to this time last year;

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

Construction: Quantity surveyors
Industry: Managers, general operatives and sales personnel
Retail: Managers and sales staff
Services: Accounting personnel and insurance staff