The Republic’s unemployment rate rose to 23.1 per ent in the second quarter of 2020, figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.
The headline figure equates to 531,412 people but includes those on the Government Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).
It is hoped many of these workers will return to work when restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus are removed.
The CSO’s latest Labour Force Survey, published this morning, gives a snapshot of the Irish labour market at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
It shows there were 2.22 million employed in the second quarter, corresponding to an employment rate of almost 65.7 per cent for people aged between 15 and 64 years.
There were 118,700 people classified as unemployed, which gave rise to a jobless rate of 5.1 per cent. However, the adjusted measure of unemployment, which includes those in receipt of the PUP, was 23.1 per cent. The headline jobless rate fell to 16.7 per cent in July.
These figures do not include the 370,000 employees in receipt of the Government’s Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS).
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