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Unemployment rate moves below 9% for the first time since 2008
Ministers Richard Bruton and Ged Nash welcome the unemployment figures from the CSO
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton together with Business and Employment Minister Ged Nash today welcomed the latest official employment figures from the Central Statistics Office, showing that 135,800 extra jobs have been created since the start of 2012.
The two Ministers were speaking after the CSO published its official Quarterly National Household Survey, which also showed:
- The unemployment rate has hit 8.9%, the lowest rate since the end of 2008, and down from a high of 15.1% in February 2012
- The total number of people unemployed has moved below 200,000 for the first time since the end of 2008
The figures published today also show that jobs have grown in all 8 regions since the Action Plan for Jobs was launched in 2012, with strongest percentage increases not in Dublin or Cork but in the South East (14.4%), the Midlands (13.8%), and the Border (12%)
Speaking today, Minister Bruton said:
“Every job created is a life back on track, a family improved, a community enhanced. It is also job-creation that allows us to grow tax revenues and ultimately improve services and cut taxes, and that is why we have made employment our very top priority. However there are still many people around the country who are not yet feeling the benefits yet, and there is still a long way to go before we can say we have replaced all the jobs that were lost, before we can attract young emigrants home in large numbers, before we can have jobs available for all the unemployed.
Minister Nash said:
“We set ourselves the target of reducing unemployment to below 9% by the end of 2015 and today’s confirmation that we have achieved that ahead of schedule is very welcome. I am particularly pleased to see the long-term unemployment rate has fallen from 6.4% to 5% in the past year. Yes, that figure is still too high and we need to do more to ensure that those who have been without work for a year or more are assisted in gaining the skills and confidence to reap the benefits of our jobs recovery.
Read the press release here for more information.
Read the Tanaiste's statement here.