The number of people unemployed in Ireland has risen by a small percentage, a new report by Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows. The unemployment was 7.4% in December and it now stands at 7.8%.
According to a report by Breaking News.ie, John Mullane, a CSO statistician, the new figure is a clear evidence that the pandemic still affects employment.
“The Covid-19 crisis has continued to have an impact on the labour market in Ireland in January 2022,” said Mr Mullane.
“While the seasonally adjusted standard measure of monthly unemployment was 5.3 per cent in January 2022, the Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment could indicate a rate of 7.8 per cent if all claimants of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) were classified as unemployed.”
According to Mr Mullane, when comparing the Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment in different months, the impact of Government restrictions on the number of people in receipt of the PUP needs to be considered.
The seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate for January 2022 was 5.3 per cent, up from a rate of 5.2 per cent in December 2021 and down from 7.0 per cent in January 2021.
“If all claimants of the PUP were classified as unemployed, this Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment indicates a rate of 7.8 per cent for all persons, with a rate of 8.2 per cent for males and 7.4 per cent for females.” he said.
“Breaking the results down by broad age group, the Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment indicates a rate of 14.3 per cent for those aged 15 to 24 years and 6.9 per cent for those aged 25 to 74 years.”