Unemployment hits highest rate in four years

Rate of unemployment hits 5.3%, according to CSO Labour Force Survey  

The number of people aged 15 to 64 who are unemployed has reached its highest rate in four years, according to figures released by the CSO. 

The number of people aged 15 to 64 who are unemployed has reached its highest rate in four years, according to figures released by the CSO. 

The unemployment rate for people aged 15-64 years in the third quarter of 2025 was 5.3%, up from 4.5% a year previously, the CSO Labour Force Survey recorded. This is the highest rate recorded since the third quarter of 2021.

There were 155,400 people in the age 15 to 74 age group out of work, 25,699 more than in Q3 2024. 

The economic sectors that saw the largest year-on-year increases in employment in Q3 2025 were transportation and storage, which increased by 18,800, or 15.9%. 

Grant Thornton Ireland chief economist Andrew Webb said the data pointed to a softening in Ireland’s labour market.

"The Labour Force Survey indicators point to a labour market that is cooling while also struggling to draw people on the margins into work. The challenge now is not simply job creation but activation to tackle participation barriers like a lack of affordable childcare or health-related barriers. Ireland’s fundamentals remain sound, but the labour market's direction of travel is noteworthy," said Mr Webb.

He pointed to the CSO’s Potential Additional Labour Force figures which reported the number of people with a loose but real attachment to the labour market stands at 119,200. "That group is smaller than a year ago, but significantly larger than in 2023, with sizeable shares held back by illness or disability, or caring responsibilities."

The CSO survey also found that more than six in 10 workers - equating to 1,828,300 - in the third quarter of 2025 stated that they never work from home. 

Of the 987,800 people who reported that they work from home at least some of the time in Q3 2025, 557,800 said that they usually (more than half the time) work from home, down from a peak of 774,300 in Q2 2021.