Updated / Thursday, 4 Jun 2026 12:13
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May moved up to 4.9% from 4.8% in April, and up from 4.6% the same month last year.
The jobless rate has hovered at, or just below, 5% for most of the past 12 months.
The CSO said the monthly unemployment rate for men in May stood at 4.5%, unchanged from April and down from a revised rate of 4.8% in May of last year.
The monthly jobless rate in May for women was 5.3%, up from 5.2% the previous month and up from 4.4% in May 2025.
Meanwhile, the youth monthly unemployment rate moved up to 9.9% last month from 9.8% in April.
Today’s figures show that the seasonally adjusted number of people who were unemployed reached 141,700 in May, up from 140,700 in April.
There was a rise of 7,200 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in May of this year compared with May last year, the CSO added.
Commenting on today’s figures, Kate English, chief economist at Deloitte Ireland, said an unemployment rate below 5% illustrates a labour market at close to full employment.
Kate English said that after recent first quarter Labour Force data, which showed practically no change in the volume of people employed compared to the first quarter of 2025, all labour market indicators are under close watch for any further signs of a slowdown in employment growth or a notable rise in the unemployment rate.
She noted that youth unemployment also continues to be low in Ireland, bucking trends elsewhere across the globe.
“While the cause of unemployment amongst younger demographics continues to be debated, with some attributing the change to AI, labour market dynamics are more complex than that,” she said.
“Another theory seeking to explain youth unemployment in the US emerged this week, with the New York Federal Reserve suggesting remote work may be playing a significant role,” she said.
“The answer to what is driving a change in labour market dynamics for younger cohorts is unlikely to be simple and most likely will be a combination of factors,” she added.
Jack Kennedy, senior economist at hiring platform Indeed, said the slight increase in unemployment comes amid an acceleration in the ongoing softening in the Irish labour market that, if maintained, may test its sustained resilience.
He said the latest data from Indeed’s Irish Job Postings Index, a real-time measure of employer demand, shows the level of job postings has continued to decrease this year.
“Postings are now 3.2% below their 1 February 2020, pre-pandemic baseline, as of 29 May 2026, having fallen around 11% over the past year,” the economist said.
“The last time the level of postings was at this level was in early April 2021 when the country was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he noted.
“Job postings hit a peak of 200% above pre-pandemic levels in March 2022 but have consistently reduced over the last four years,” he added.
