Ireland Jobless Rate Eases For Fifth Month

(RTTNews) - Ireland's unemployment rate declined for the fifth consecutive month in October to its lowest level in more than three-and-a-half years, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted standardised unemployment rate fell to 13.2 percent from September's 13.3 percent. A year ago, the jobless rate was 14.3 percent.

The jobless rate has been steadily falling since June and the latest figure is the lowest since February 2010, when it was 13 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the live register total decreased to 409,900 from 413,600 in the previous month. The figure has fallen in every month since July 2012.

Unadjusted live register total shrunk to 396,500 from September's 408,700. The figure eased for the third straight month and reached below 400,000 for the first time since May 2009.

In October, the seasonally adjusted number of those under 25 years of age on the live register declined by 600 persons monthly to 64,400. On an unadjusted basis, the total fell by 3,600 from the previous month.

The percentage of persons aged under 25 on the Live Register now stands at 15.8 percent for October, down from 16.6 percent in October 2012 and 18.1 percent in October 2011, the agency said.