The Republic’s official unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent was below the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average in January.
Data from the Paris-based think tank shows the average jobless rate across OECD countries was 6.8 per cent in January. However, the official rates here and elsewhere fail to take into account people who may have temporarily lost their jobs because of Covid-related restrictions.
The Covid-adjusted rate of unemployment here was put at close to 25 per cent in February, painting an entirely different picture of conditions in the labour market.
The OECD said the unemployment rate in the euro area was roughly unchanged for the third consecutive month in January at 8.1 per cent .
“It should be noted that unemployment statistics do not account for the full amount of labour market slack due to Covid-19, as some non-employed people may be classified as “out of the labour force”, because, due to the pandemic, they are either not able to actively look for a job or are not available to work,” the OECD said.
