New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the country’s unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in December, from 4.1% a month earlier.
The CSO said that on an annual basis, the unemployment rate of 4.2% is down from 4.5% in December 2023.
Today’s figures show that the monthly jobless rate for men in December was 4.2%, up from 4.1% in November but down from a rate of 4.3% in December 2023.
The monthly unemployment rate for women was also 4.2%, unchanged from a revised rate of 4.2% in November and down from a rate of 4.6% in December 2023.
Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate increased to 11.6%, from a revised rate of 11.2% in November.
The CSO said the seasonally adjusted number of people who were unemployed in December stood at 121,700, compared with 120,300 in November 2024.
There was a fall of 3,900 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in December when compared with a year earlier, it added.
Commenting on today’s CSO figures, Jack Kennedy, senior economist at hiring platform Indeed, said that unemployment remained below or at 4.5% for the duration of 2024.
“This remarkable performance is ahead of predictions in early 2024 that the rate would not exceed 5% at any point during the year. It also extends the number of months the unemployment rate has been below 5% to 35,” he noted.
Mr Kennedy also said that job postings on Indeed, a real time measure of labour market activity, continue to slow.
As of December 20, the Indeed Job Postings Index for Ireland was at 11% above the February 1, 2020 pre-pandemic baseline (seasonally adjusted). This is down from 31% above the baseline in December 2023.
“Given the resilience of the labour market as indicated by the unemployment data, this slowdown in job postings is not a cause for concern at this stage, rather a sign of a rebalanced market,” Mr Kennedy said.
“The country’s unemployment rate is expected to average 4.5% throughout 2025, although this comes with the proviso that Ireland’s economic model remains vulnerable to global volatility,” he predicted.
Article Source – Unemployment rate rises to 4.2% in December – CSO – RTE
