DAVY VIEW

May employee payrolls data continued to indicate a favourable labour market for Ireland this year. At an estimated 2.61m employees – before likely upward revisions – growth looks on course to exceed 2% again this year. There was a pick-up in tech payrolls to 124k, towards the upper end of the range since 2023, despite some high-profile job cuts in the sector in recent months. Unlike in the US and UK, Ireland’s payrolls grew for sectors with above-average wages again in the three months to May.