Ireland’s unemployment rate of 4.3% lowest in the European Union

IRELAND’S unemployment rate is the lowest in the European Union, official figures revealed yesterday.

A report from European statistics office Eurostat for June, 2005 showed Ireland had an unemployment rate of 4.3%, half the EU-wide figure, which stood at 8.8%.

Ireland’s rate of unemployment was lower than those of Britain (4.7%), Denmark and the Netherlands (both at 4.8%), and significantly lower than the eurozone level, which was recorded at 8.7% for the month. The Irish level of unemployment for the under-25s was also one of the lowest in the European Union, standing at 8%, compared to 7% for Denmark and 8.4% for the Netherlands.