17th Consecutive Quarter of Declining Unemployment in Ireland

Unemployment rates have dropped by a massive 12.5% this year with CSO figures showing that the total number of unemployed now stands at 172,500.

Over the past year 57,500 have secured employment, which represents a 2.9% increase and stands at 2,040,500. On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment rose by 13,500 (0.7%) over the previous quarter.

Most of the rise in employment came from full time work, with full time jobs accounting for 44,800 of the increase, while part time work grew by 12,800.

The biggest rates of increase were seen in the accommodation and food service activities, with employment there up by 9.6%, while the construction sector saw employment growth of 7.3%.

Welcoming the figures the Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O’Connor said “The CSO figures today are very welcome and show that our job growth is recovering. I am particularly encouraged to see figures showing the vast majority of new jobs are being created outside of Dublin as one of my key priorities remains keeping a focus on job growth in all regions around Ireland ”.

“This must continue, we must rise to the challenge of ensuring that we are protected from international effects.
Continuing to develop a sustainable economy remains a key priority and I intend continuing to work towards ensuring the right supports are available to all businesses so that we can maintain the momentum we have recently seen in job growth.”

The highest EU unemployment rate was recorded in Greece at 23%, while the lowest rate was in the Czech Republic at 3.9%

Meanwhile, the employment rate in Ireland grew by 1.6% over the year to June, to stand at 64.7%, still below the comparable EU average figure of 66.6%.