Ireland has reached "full employment" as unemployment rates dipped to their lowest levels since records began, the Government has announced.
Data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that unemployment levels in April dropped to 3.9 per cent.
This is the lowest level seen in 22 years, since April 2001. The most recent Labour Force Survey, published in the final quarter of last year, reported that there were over 2.57 million people in employment in the State.
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The CSO figures show that 4.3 per cent of males were unemployed in April 2023. This was down from 4.6 per cent on the same period last year.
Unemployment rates amongst women, meanwhile, fell from 3.8 per cent in March to 3.6 per cent in April. The unemployment rate amongst females is down from 4.7 per cent in April 2022.
The level of unemployment amongst 15 to 24-year-olds fell to 7.9 per cent, down from 8.9 per cent in March.
Overall unemployment levels stood at 7.7 per cent in April 2021.
Ireland is considered to have full employment when unemployment rates are less than 4 per cent.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys praised the fact that the numbers were the "lowest in over 20 years".
She said: "While these figures are testament to the efforts that this Government has made to providing a range of supports to businesses, the self-employed and people out of work, we will continue to work closely with employers and jobseekers to give them the opportunity to create jobs and find work."
Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, meanwhile, said that the figures pointed to the resilience of the Irish economy.
"Today’s unemployment figures are definitive proof of the success of the Government’s post-pandemic Economic Recovery Plan, published in mid-2021.
"Our unemployment rate is at a record low and employment at a record high.
"Through the recently published White Paper on Enterprise, our ambition over the coming years is to build upon the strong economy and enterprise sector that has delivered this historically low level of unemployment.
"In the coming weeks my Department will publish the first of consecutive two year Implementation Plans for the White Paper, focussing on key cross government initiatives that will ensure the continued resilience of our enterprise base and labour market."
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