Unemployment rate falls to 8.6%, CSO figures show

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% in the past month, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The CSO yesterday said that the seasonally adjusted number of unemployed was 186,700 in January, a decrease of 3,000 or 0.2% when compared to December 2015, and is 1.5% down when compared to January of last year when 30,500 more people were out of work.

The rate of unemployment among men in January 2016 is 9.8%, down from 10% in December 2015 and down from 11.7% in January 2015.