Unemployment drops as Ireland's labour market shows resilience to global instability

Ireland seeing a sustained period of low unemployment

There was a fall of 6,900 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in May 2025 when compared with May 2024.

Ireland's unemployment rate remains at historic lows, falling slightly in May to 4% from 4.1% in April, data from the CSO shows. 

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9% for males and 4.1% for females, with the youth unemployment rate for those aged between 15 and 25 dropping to 10.9% from 11.2%.

The resilient employment data comes amid growing fears of a softening in the labour market over Ireland's exposure to the current global instability and trade war.

Separate CSO figures released yesterday on job churn showed that the number of jobs created in Ireland fell by 19.8% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. A total of 100,856 new jobs were recorded in Q1 of this year, a drop of 24,915 when compared to Q1 2024. Hiring activity also slowed significantly, with 9.7% fewer hires than during the same period last year.

Recruitment firm Indeed said job postings on their Irish platform are down to 8.8% above pre-pandemic levels and down 15% year-on-year. Postings dipped in May to their lowest level since early 2021.  

Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Indeed, said the softening has yet to lead to any expressed concerns. "This is in part because it is occurring gradually and has come after a sustained period of record low unemployment, but also because there are signs that the Irish labour market is continuing to remain relatively robust."

"Employers continue to experience difficulties in recruiting staff and workers continue to retain leverage on pay and conditions," he said.

In a report last week, the OECD highlighted Ireland's exposure to a global trade war. However, they said the significant sunk investments in both labour and capital equipment by manufacturing multinationals may help mitigate the impact of tariffs on growth. The OECD also said any employment correction or layoffs in Ireland due to tariffs might be softened by companies' reluctance to shed staff here due to the significant skills shortages.