Jobless total falls for fifth month

The number of people without work in Ireland dropped for the fifth month in a row after adjustment for seasonal factors, Ireland’s Central Statistics Office reported today.

The number of people without work in Ireland dropped for the fifth month in a row after adjustment for seasonal factors, the Central Statistics Office reported today.

The new total of 169,700 for December represented 4.7% of the workforce, unchanged from November and down from a 2003 high of 4.9% in July, when an upward trend in unemployment was halted.