You are employed as an Irish economic consultant. Your manager asks you to complete a report comparing Ireland’s employment and unemployment performance relative to another industrialised country.

Question: Write a short economic report comparing Ireland to one of the following countries:

1. United Kingdom
2. United States
3. Canada
4. New Zealand
5. Australia

Specifically, your economic report on the country should address the following:

1. Summarise the key employment and labour market indicators for Ireland.
2. Compare and contrast Ireland’s recent performance and current employment/unemployment situation with ONE of the countries listed above.

You should address the following issues in this report:

• Changes in employment over the past two years
• Sectoral changes in employment
• Changes in unemployment over the past two years
• The current profile of unemployment
• Labour force participation and employment rates
• Changes in average earnings over the past two years and current earnings by sector
• Current principal economic status by age, gender, and region