Wholesale and retail sector is the biggest employer in Mayo - CSO

FIGURES from the 2016 Census published today have shown the largest industrial sector in Mayo is the wholesale and retail trade, accounting for 7,400 workers (14.4%).

Manufacturing was the next largest, with 6,501 workers (12.6%). The top five was completed by human health and social work activities (12.4%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (8.5%) and education (8.5%).

The 4,395 persons working in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector was down 959 (17.9%) on 2011. A further 3,235 persons (6.3%) worked in construction, compared with 2,984 five years previously.

Total unemployment in the county was 8,591 giving an unemployment rate of 14.3%, compared with 19.5% in April 2011. Nationally, the unemployment rate recorded by Census 2016 was 12.9%. Of the unemployed in the county, 768 (8.9%) were first-time job seekers.

Among Mayo’s unemployed, 83.0% were Irish nationals, compared with 82.2% in 2011, while 17.0% were non-Irish nationals, down from 17.8% five years previously.

Deirdre Cullen, senior statistician, commented: ”This report analyses the world of work in Ireland in 2016, with a particular focus on changes in the numbers at work by occupations and industrial sectors. All of this data is now available on the CSO website.”