Food and beverage job ads down 62% since last year

The number of food and drink job ads dropped 62 per cent since last year, new data from Indeed.com shows.

Research is trying to examine how the Republic's labour sector fared a year after the first reported case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in Ireland in February last year.

All-round job vacancies recovered in January but are still 24 percent below prior-year levels.

"This past year has undoubtedly been one of the toughest on record for many dealing with job losses or business closures, but there is light at the end of the tunnel," said Jack Kennedy, economics director at the bank.

This corresponded with the overall recovery in employment in Europe in January, it said.

That reflects an increase in hiring across Europe with Poland recording the largest rally in job opportunities with a rise of 10%, followed by Italy, with an increase of 7%.

Overall Ireland is now doing better than Britain or Spain but trailing behind the other five EU countries studied.

Covid State's adjusted unemployment rate jumped to 25 per cent in January, when full easing was again introduced to keep the spread of coronavirus under control.