The unemployment rate, when adjusted to include those on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, stood at 12.4% in August.
The latest release from the Central Statistics Office shows the jobless rate fell from 13.5% in July and compares to 17.1% the same time last year.
The CSO said the seasonally adjusted traditional rate of unemployment was 6.4%, down marginally from 6.5% in July. The same measure was 7.1% in August last year.
When the seasonally adjusted rate is broken down by age, unemployment was 16.9% amongst 15-24 year olds and 4.8% for those 25-74.
The Covid-19 adjusted jobless measure, which includes those on the PUP, was 25.6% for 15-24 year olds and 10.1% for 25-74 year olds.
The traditional measure of unemployment gives a lower estimate for the number unemployed of 191,572 people. This compares to 193,321 in July and 187,954 in August 2020.
The Covid adjusted measure gives an upper estimate of 335,178 people in August compared to 356,648 in July and 414,913 in August 2020.
Last night, the Department of Social Protection said 143,000 will receive PUP payments this week, a reduction of approximately 6,000 on the previous week.
The PUP is now closed to new entrants and rates will be gradually reduced starting later this month.
Article Source – Jobless rate including Covid-19 payouts falls to 12.4% – CSO – RTE – Robert Shortt