New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the unemployment rate hit a three-month high of 5% in June, up from 4.9% in May and 4.6% in June last year.
The CSO said the monthly unemployment rate for men in June was 4.6%, up from 4.5% in May 2026, but down from a revised rate of 4.8% the same month last year.
The monthly unemployment rate for women stood at 5.4%, an increase from 5.3% in May and also up from 4.4% in June 2025.
The youth unemployment rate rose to 10.8%, up from 9.9% in May, the CSO added.
Today’s figures show that the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed was 145,100 in June, compared with 142,000 in May.
There was a rise of 8,900 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in June on the same time last year, it added.
Commenting on today’s CSO figures, Kate English, chief economist at Deloitte Ireland, said that while the labour market has softened gradually over the past 12 months, an unemployment rate of around 5% still points to stability and to an economy operating close to full employment.
“The increase from 4.6% a year ago suggests the exceptionally tight labour market of recent years is easing, but the adjustment rate has been gradual. Employment conditions remain resilient by both historical and international standards,” the economist said.
“The labour force survey for the second quarter of 2026 will be a data set to analyse closely towards the end of the summer, as that will help us examine employment trends and tell us whether this represents the start of a more sustained normalisation following a prolonged period of strong employment growth,” she added.
