Workers look for remote employment opportunities
More workers than ever before are searching for remote employment openings as official figures show unemployment levels hovering near 17% in July, down from 23% in June.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures for July found that while the standard measure of monthly unemployment was 5%, a new measure, adjusted for Covid-19, indicated a rate as high as 16.7% if all claimants of the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) were included.
The adjusted unemployment rate fell to 16.7% in July, from 23.1% in June.
The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed people was 114,600 in July 2020, compared to 106,300 in June 2020, the CSO said.
When compared to July 2019, there was an annual decrease of 9,200 in the seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed.
Younger workers continue to feel the biggest impact of the pandemic, with the adjusted measure finding 41.2% for those aged 15 to 24 out of work, compared to 13.7% for those aged 25 to 74.
Labour market analyst for the CSO, Catalina Gonzalez, said it was clear from the stats that the crisis has continued to have a significant impact on the labour market.
Global job search website Indeed.com said the figures were somewhat encouraging as people were getting back to work in July.
“The success of the July jobs stimulus plan will be important for retaining existing jobs and creating new ones," said Indeed.com economist Jack Kennedy.
The fastest growing search term over the past two weeks on Indeed.com’s Irish site was “any work”, indicating the urgency people are feeling to tide themselves over, Mr Kennedy added.
“Remote jobs will likely become more common too, making employment more accessible for those in regional areas affected by the tourism downturn," he said.
"Some 5% of all jobs on our site are now for remote postings."