Irish unemployment falls to lowest point since 2009
Ireland's unemployment rate has fallen to a four year low, according to the Central Statistics Office. The seasonally adjusted rate fell from 13.6 per cent in the second quarter, to 12.8 per cent in the third quarter.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Joan Burton, said:
More than 1,000 people a week are returning to work, proof that the measures taken by the Government to stabilise the economy and address the unemployment crisis which we inherited are paying off.
The figures released today represent the fifth quarter in succession that unemployment was fallen. The sharpness of the decline was largely unexpected with a poll of economists last month predicting that unemployment would take until the end of 2014 to fall to its current levels.
There has been an annual increase in employment of 3.2 per cent bringing total employment close to 2m.