DUBLIN, Ireland: Ireland's unemployment rate, reported at 4.2 percent, has reached its lowest rate in 21 years.

This follows the Covid lockdowns when nearly one-third of Ireland's workforce was unemployed in April 2020.

Ireland's Central Statistics Office also noted that the current unemployment rate is lower than the pre-pandemic level of 4.8 percent, recorded in February 2020.

Of note, Ireland's unemployment numbers are better than in the Eurozone, which reported 6.6 percent unemployment in June.

The government also said that Ireland currently has 113,000 jobless workers, a decrease of 900 from June and, in comparison, close to 11 million in Europe.


In May, the government reported that the number of people at work in Ireland has increased by over 2.5 million.

The low unemployment is also calculated through income tax receipts, with 2.5 billion euros in income tax being received by the Exchequer last month. This is a 19 percent increase over July 2021.

"Despite inflationary pressures and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the rate of unemployment is expected to continue its downward trajectory in coming months," economist Jack Kennedy at job site Indeed wrote in a note.

Further, Grant Thornton chief economist Andrew Webb said, "Significant cost-of-living pressures mean we are in the 'cut back economy' with many households having to divert some spending from desirable items to essential spending," as reported by The Independent.

"This might be expected to drive a downturn in the labour market but, encouragingly, performance in key sectors, such as life sciences, agri-food and professional services is faring well and vacancies are holding up."