The latest figures from the Central Statistics Offfice (CSO) show that Irish unemployment fell to 183,700 in April, down from 187,400 the previous month.

This is the lowest level of unemployment since November 2008, when the unemployment rate was 8.1%. The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 8.4% from 8.6% in February and 9.0% at end-2015.

Employment rose in twelve of the fourteen economic sectors on an annual basis and fell in the other two in the final quarter of 2015. The greatest rate of increase was posted in the Construction (+8.5% or 9,900) sector. The pick-up in this sector is particularly encouraging given that it was the one that suffered the worst in the downturn.

Merrion Stockbrokers have today predicted an average jobless rate of 8.2% for 2016, down from 9.4% in 2015 and 11.3% in 2014.
For more on this article, please visit: Business World

---

---

---

---

---