The last time that Ireland had a 6% or less unemployment rate was prior to the 2012 economic crisis. As of May 2018, the Central Statistics Office has announced that the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.9% – leaving officials feeling optimistic. This figure was first noted in April, where unemployment dropped .1% from the month of May.
July saw this figure decline even further, down to 5.1%.
As of April 2018, there were just over 140,000 unemployed individuals in the country. This is almost 17,000 fewer unemployed persons than there were in April of 2017. While emigration is credited in no small part to the decrease in unemployment across Ireland, the government’s focus on economic recovery has been a tremendous force in getting more Irish residents into job opportunities.
The pace at which people are being hired in Ireland has been notably and quite intentionally driving upward since the economic crisis. Construction, finance and hospitality sectors have seen the most intense growth, leaving the unemployment rate in Ireland lower in 2018 than economists projected for 2019-5.3%.
In April 2018, economists made the projection that unemployment would decline to 5.3% in 2019 and remain steady throughout the following year. This was expected as a direct result of the government and labor sectors’ diligent response to the economic crisis and their steadfast dedication to the recovery of the people of Ireland.
For the better part of a decade, Ireland’s government, various communities and volunteers have banded together to create a host of programs designed with the purpose of reducing the one-climbing unemployment rate in the country. Their targets range from the long-term unemployed to youth hires to the employers themselves. The effort to strengthen Ireland’s economy has been met on all sides by those determined to see their country thrive.
What does remain concerning, however, is that the youth unemployment rate in Ireland still remains much higher than what officials consider satisfactory. 12% of youths remain unemployed, which is 5.6% less than the amount of unemployed youths in April 2016 but still a cause for worry. As a result of this, numerous initiatives have been formed for the sole purpose of tackling high unemployment rates among individuals aged 18 to 24.
There is still more work to be done, but if the past ten years have shown us anything it is that the people of Ireland are going to continue fighting for themselves and for each other in creating new job opportunities for those without employment. The people of our country are ambitious and driven and have shown that our programs to reduce unemployment work.