Young people dominate latest unemployment rates with figures stark contrast to last year
At Stands Sasko Unemployment Lazarov/photocall Covid Adjusted Picture: Ireland The Rate 8% 24 Now
Nearly a quarter of the Irish workforce is unemployed including people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).
The Covid-19 adjusted rate of unemployment now stands at just under 25% according to the latest data releasd by the Central Statistics Office. (CSO).
Young people made up the majority of the 24.8% left unemployed due to the impact of the virus and lockdown restrictions on the economy, with more than half of this group made up of persons aged between 15 - 24 years at 56.8% while people aged between 25-74 made up 21.1%.
8% of those in receipt of PUP are also attending full time education.
The CSO reports higher numbers of men than women in this group, with 25.4% of males compared 24.0% of females in the labour force unemployed.
CSO figures show the standard rate of unemployment, excluding PUP recipients, was unchanged last month at 5.8%.
Overall this Covid-adjusted rate of employment has fallen since January's level of 25.1% but the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the labour market is stark, said Catalina Gonzalez, a CSO statistician.
Jack Kennedy, an economist from the online jobs listing site, Indeed, said the employment situation in the country is a clear contrast to last year, just before the pandemic hit.
“February marked one year since the first case of Covid-19 and the upheaval that was to come. This time last year Ireland was not far off full employment with the unemployment rate standing at 5%.
"Today, if we use the Covid adjusted measure, that figure is 24.8%, an increase no one would have predicted," he said.