New Central Statistics Office show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July eased to 4.1%, down from a revised rate of 4.2% recorded in June.
The CSO said it had revised upwards the jobless rate for each month of 2023, meaning the rate did not hit a record low as previously estimated.
Previous estimates had suggested the rate dropped to 3.8% in May and June, below the previous all-time low of 3.9% reached between October 2000 and April 2001 in the early days of the Celtic Tiger boom.
The CSO said the figures can be subject to larger revisions when up-to-date labour survey data is included and that this was particularly the case regarding youth unemployment figures in the second quarter of the year.
Today’s CSO figures show that that the unemployment rate for men fell to 4.3% in July from a revised rate of 4.5% in June 2023, and up from 4.1% the same month last year.
The jobless rate for women was unchanged at a revised June rate of 3.9% and was down from a rate of 4.4% in July of last year.
But the youth unemployment rate rose to 10.7% in July of this year from a revised rate of 10.5% in June.
Today’s figures show that the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed stood at 111,900 in July, down from 115,500 in June.
There was an increase of 100 in the seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed in July compared with a year earlier, the CSO added.
Jack Kennedy, senior economist at global job site Indeed, said the Irish labour market remains incredibly tight with the unemployment rate at 4.1% – the joint-record lowest since 2001 – and is proving resilient amidst global challenges.
“The continuing low level of Ireland’s unemployment rate reflects the culmination of concerted efforts by both the public and private sectors to foster a robust and sustainable economy,” Jack Kennedy said.
He noted that unemployment in the euro zone has also dipped to a new all-time low of 6.4%, which indicates that the economy is stabilising.
But he cautioned that as the labour market remains at near full employment, the coming months could reveal sector squeezes.
“Pay pressures remain strong and workers will push for higher wages to compensate for high inflation,” he said.
“That said, wage pressures may be past their peak. The Indeed Wage Tracker, based on advertised pay for new hires, showed a further easing to 4.3% year on year in June, down from a peak of 5.5% in March,” he added.
“This corresponds with a gradual softening in employers’ hiring appetite, though the latter remains strong. The latest figures from Indeed show that job postings on Indeed Ireland are 30% above the pre-pandemic baseline as of July,” the economist stated.