Press release
Minister Doherty welcomes fall in the monthly unemployment rate to 5.3%
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, T.D., has welcomed the latest monthly unemployment figures, which were announced today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The monthly unemployment rate has dropped consistently over the past year and has now fallen to 5.3%, as of October 2018. This means that there are now about 29,000 fewer people out of work in Ireland compared to October 2017.
Minister Doherty said:
“I welcome the continued fall in unemployment to 5.3% of the workforce. It’s nearly eleven years since the unemployment rate was this low. From the peak levels of mid-2011 , the numbers unemployed have fallen by two thirds.
“While youth unemployment is higher at 12%, there are now fewer young people out of work than at any time since late 2008 – a drop of about 70,000 compared to the peak in November 2009 when there were over 100,000 young unemployed people. While this is great progress, our focus remains on bringing these figures down further and enabling everyone, and in particular young people, to reach their full potential within the workforce."
The Department has a range of employment supports and employment activation measures aimed at supporting and helping people to enter, or return to, the workforce. The Department also continues to work directly with employers to support them in filling job vacancies within their companies and organisations. The following are some examples of the assistance and support provided by the Department to jobseekers and employers:
The Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS)
Minister Doherty launched the Department’s new YESS scheme on 24 September 2018. YESS is a new work experience scheme targeted exclusively at young jobseekers, aged 18 to 24, who are either long-term unemployed or face significant barriers to employment.
JobsIreland.ie
JobsIreland.ie is the Department’s national recruitment website. The service is administered by Department staff and provides a free online vacancy advertising and candidate matching service for employers who wish to advertise job vacancies, apprenticeships and community employment (CE) schemes. YESS vacancies can now also be advertised on JobsIreland.ie. The service is available to all employers irrespective of size or industry sector. To date in 2018, 69,800 positions have been advertised.
For candidates, JobsIreland.ie provides the opportunity to register and search for all the latest jobs in the market place. JobsIreland.ie lets candidates create an online CV and then notifies them automaticallyof vacancies that match their profile.
JobsPlus
JobsPlus, which was introduced in July 2013, provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who offer full-time employment opportunities to long-term unemployed people.
The scheme was further enhanced from 1 January 2018 to support workers aged 50 or over. Almost 16,000 have been employed through the scheme in 2017 and 2018 (to September).
Jobs Fairs
Additionally, the Department hosts numerous Jobs Fairs and events throughout the year, with our annual Jobs Week a particular focus. For Jobs Week 2017, the Department organised and hosted 100 events in every region, which brought 400 employers and 16,000 jobseekers together. Jobs Week 2018 saw 134 events, with 450 employers and 14,500 jobseekers attending. The Department also co-hosts a number of events with EURES, the European Recruitment Service – from the start of 2017 to date in 2018, there has been 3 on-site and 5 online EURES Jobs Fairs. The Department will continue to focus on working with employers throughout the country to ensure that jobseekers can avail of the many jobs that are being created every week by hardworking employers.
Community Employment and TÚS schemes
In addition the department continues to provide valuable work experience for those who are long-term unemployed through the community employment and TUS schemes. These schemes also provide important local services in towns and villages throughout the country. At present there are approximately 28,000 participants on these schemes who are benefitting from work experience and training.
ENDS