More jobs

There were 85 thousand more jobs in the first quarter of 2006 than in the same quarter of 2005. This is the second increase in a row. The job growth in the fourth quarter of 2005 was a modest 18 thousand. This increase follows a decrease in employment which lasted for some two and a half years.

The first time the number of employee jobs fell was in the second quarter of 2003.  The fall in the number of jobs was greatest (1.8 percent) at the beginning of 2004. In subsequent quarters the decrease slowed down, to reach 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2005. In the fourth quarter it turned around, and the number of jobs grew by 0.2 percent. The increase in the first quarter (1.2 percent) shows that the job growth is speeding up.

Growth rate jobs and economic growth