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Irish Unemployment Rate Falls for Seventh Month in a Row to 6.2% in January

Eoin Stynes reports on the latest drop in Ireland’s rate of unemployment and how it has changed over the last number of months

 

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Source: CSO 

The overall rate of unemployment in Ireland fell once again in January according to newly released data from the Central Statistics Office.

According to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) the seasonally adjusted* unemployment rate fell from 6.2% in December 2017 to 6.1% in January 2018 a rate which is down from 6.7% in July 2017.

This drop between December and January continues a trend of a decreasing number of unemployed people that began in July 2017. Since July 2017 the rate has steadily decreased, on average, at a rate of 0.1% each month.

“This drop between December and January continues a trend of a decreasing number of unemployed people that began in July 2017”

The seasonally adjusted rate for males fell from 6.6% in December 2017 to 6.5% in January. This is a continuation of the drop from July, when it was reported at 7.1%.

In January 2018, the seasonally adjusted rate for females was recorded at 5.6% which was a rate drop from 5.8% in the previous month. January’s rate decrease continues on from previous months where it dropped from 6.3% in July when the rate began to fall.

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Source: CSO 

 

The seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed was 143,700 in January 2018, down from 146,700 when compared to the December 2017 figure. A decrease of 13,700 when compared with the number recorded in July 2017.

The number of unemployed males in January 2018 was down from 84,600 to 83,600 for the month from January 2017 to December 2018, making up a total decrease of 6,400 from July 2017. The amount of unemployed females also dropped in the same period from 62,100 to 60,100 adding to a total decrease of 7,300 in unemployed females since July 2017.

 

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Source: CSO 

The youth unemployment rate – persons aged 15-24 – also dropped in January 2018 to 13.7%, from a rate of 13.8% in December. This drop continues the fall in youth unemployment from July 2017 where it was reported as 15.6%. However, according to James Doorley, Deputy Director of the National Youth Council of Ireland, the number of young people still out of employment and signed on to the live register is still too high: “Talk of full employment rings hollow when there are still 25,624 young people on the live register and over 10,000 unemployed for 12 months or more.”

The numbers are an improvement on 2017 but still leave a lot of work to be done to rectify the problem for young people seeking employment in Ireland.

*According to the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics the seasonally adjusted rate “is a statistical technique that attempts to measure and remove the influence of predictable seasonal patterns” such as weather, school and public holidays “to reveal how employment and unemployment change from month to month”.

 

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