The number of professional job vacancies available in July 2018 in Ireland increased by 13% when compared to the same month a year ago, according to the latest Morgan McKinley Ireland Employment Monitor.

At the same time, the monitor found that the number of professionals seeking new jobs fell by 9.7% in July 2018, when compared to July 2017.

The Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor measures the ‘pulse’ of the Irish professional jobs market by tracking the number of new job vacancies and new candidates within Ireland each month.

The Irish Employment Monitor also revealed month-to-month figures, which showed that the number of professional job vacancies available in July 2018 increased by 1.74% when compared to June 2018. There was also an increase of 5.1% in the number of professionals seeking new roles in July compared to the previous month.

Over the past month, the sectors in the most demand include life sciences, technology and professional services.

Trayc Keevans, Global Foreign Direct Investment Director at Morgan McKinley Ireland, commented, "There has been no traditional seasonal slowdown in terms of job creation and growth. There is still a very strong confidence in the marketplace as July was a very healthy month for job announcements."

Keevans continued, "There was also an increase in the number of professionals seeking new roles as the summer months and school holidays have proven a popular time for candidates with families seeking to relocate here, confirming that Ireland continues to be a major lure for returning migrants and foreign talent interested in taking up roles particularly in the tech space."

Meanwhile, approximately 65% of the publically announced jobs in July were outside of Dublin. In the early part of the economic recovery, job creation was skewed towards the capital. However, Morgan McKinley says Ireland is starting to see a real shift as regional job creation has grown significantly. In the last month, there have been announcements for high-value jobs in areas such as Athlone, Donegal, Laois, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford.