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01st May 2018

Irish unemployment has hit its lowest level in 10 years

Michael Lanigan

This is the lowest level since the financial crash.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office have revealed that the unemployment rate for April 2018 has reached 5.9%.

This marks the first time in 10 years that the rate of unemployment has fallen below 6%.

Figure 1 Monthly unemployment rate seasonally adjusted

The seasonally adjusted rate for April 2018 went down from the revised rate of 6.0% in March 2018 and 6.8% in April 2017, according to the latest statistics.

In total, the number of persons unemployed in Ireland was 140,300 in April, which is down from 143,500 when compared to March, while over the past 12 months, a total of 16,700 persons have gained employment.

Ireland Unemployment Rate

Ireland’s continued decrease in unemployment, according to the Organisation of Econmic Co-Operation and Development, meant that it has experienced one of the greatest declines in Europe at present.

During December 2017, its was lauded as having had the greatest decrease in Europe when the rate dropped from 6.4% to 6.2% and 7.5% from November 2016.

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