Irish Jobless Rate Highest Since 2021
2026-08-06 10:20
By
Jereli Escobar
1 min. read
Ireland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in July 2026 from 5.0% in the previous month and was also slightly higher than the 5.0% recorded a year earlier, marking the highest reading since December 2021.
The total number of unemployed people increased by 2,800 from the previous month and by 2,600 from a year earlier, reaching 149,900.
By gender, the unemployment rate for females edged up to 5.3% from 5.2% in June, with the number of unemployed women rising by 1,800 to 74,300.
For males, the jobless rate also ticked up to 4.9% from 4.8%, while the number of unemployed men increased by 1,100 to 75,600.
Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate (ages 15–24) climbed to 12.3% from 11.8% in June, while the rate for those aged 25–74 edged up to 4.1% from 4.0% over the last three months.