5,200 new industrial sector jobs created in Galway so far this year

5,200 new jobs have been created in the industrial sector in Galway in the first quarter of this year.

That’s according to the mid year report of the Galway Economic Monitor published by the Galway Chamber and Grant Thornton.

The report shows over 242,000 people in Galway were employed in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 2.8%.

The industrial sector continues to drive growth with 5,200 new jobs created this quarter- an increase of 14%.

However, employment in both the private and public services sector have both dropped this quarter-only 428 jobs were recorded in private services with 2,908 jobs for public services.

Residential construction activity also spiked in the first quarter of the year with 616 builds- an increase of 21% from the last quarter.

Completed builds across Galway City and County increased by 18% in the second quarter of this year with 352 new residential units added to the stock.

The report also recorded a new peak in public transport usage in Galway.

Average daily traffic count in July had a year on year change of 0.8% with over 118,000 journeys made.

While a total of 3.1 million journeys were made overall on bus and rail this quarter-a 4.7% increase in this quarter.