The percentage of firms reporting vacancies has fallen by nine percentage points in the year to April, according to the latest figures from the monthly Fás/ESRI employment and vacancies survey.
The percentage of firms reporting vacancies in the private sector fell by three percentage points to 7 per cent in April, which is the lowest the economy-wide vacancy rate has been since August 2005.
Reported vacancies in the construction sector increased by two percentage points to 5 per cent.
However, the three-month moving average, which is a figure that smooths out monthly fluctuations, continued to decline, falling by two percentage points to 5 per cent.
