The State’s jobless rate was 4.7 per cent in January, unchanged from the previous month, but up from 4.5 per cent in January 2025.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures indicated the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in January was 138,400, compared with 137,800 in December 2025.
The January total represented an annual increase of 8,600.
The youth unemployment rate – the jobless rate for people aged 15-24 years – was 11.8 per cent, up from a revised rate of 11.4 per cent.
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The CSO said the seasonally adjusted number of unemployed males increased to 76,000 in January, compared with 75,200 in December.
The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed females in January was 62,400, down from 62,700 in December.
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“The latest monthly unemployment rates indicate stability in Ireland’s jobs market, a welcome plateau following a volatile start to 2026,” said Kate English, chief economist at Deloitte Ireland.
“Youth unemployment trends are also more positive than expected but it is still one to watch closely. While it remains elevated compared to levels in 2022 through to early 2024, it has shown only a marginal rise from the same month last year,” she said.
“It is also down versus the pre-Covid rate as of January 2019,” she said.
Ms English said it would be crucial to watch the employment growth figures in the upcoming Labour Force Survey.
“Employment growth slowed considerably in Q3 2025, with a further softening expected this year,” she said.
“The extent of this moderation will dictate the pace of overall economic growth in 2026,” she said.
Despite the global headwinds from US tariffs, the Irish economy grew at an accelerated rate of 12.6 per cent in gross domestic product (GDP) terms last year as multinationals front-loaded goods exports into the US to avoid tariffs.
But the Department of Finance has cautioned against using GDP as a gauge of economic growth here because it is distorted by multinationals.
