HALF OF PEOPLE aged under 24 in Ireland are unemployed, new figures suggest.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the country’s unemployment rate, including those in receipt of Covid-19 payments, was 26.1% in May.

The CSO released two different unemployment figures for the month stating that the Covid-19 crisis has had a significant impact on the labour market throughout May.

The new Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment shows the 26.1% rate if all claimants of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) were classified as unemployed.

The standard monthly unemployment rate jumped to 5.6% from 5.4% in April, it said.

CSO senior statistician Edel Flannery said those in receipt of the Covid-19 PUP at the end of May do not meet the internationally agreed criteria to be considered as unemployed.

“Therefore, the CSO is producing a supplementary measure of unemployment in parallel with the routine Monthly Unemployment Estimates,” she added.

This Covid-19 adjusted monthly unemployment measure includes those in receipt of the PUP in the calculation of the adjusted unemployment rate. It should be considered as the upper bound for the true rate of unemployment and the standard monthly rate as the lower bound.

“The Covid-19 crisis has continued to have a significant impact on the labour market in Ireland in May 2020.

“While the standard measure of monthly unemployment was 5.6% in May 2020, a new Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment indicates a rate as high as 26.1% if all claimants of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment were classified as unemployed.

In May, the monthly unemployment rates for men and women were 5.5% and 5.7% respectively.

Breaking the results down by broad age group, the monthly unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 years was 13.5% while it was 4.5% for those aged 25 to 74 years.

The CSO also published an alternative Covid-19 adjusted unemployment measure estimating the share of the labour force that was not working due to unemployment or who were out of work due to Covid-19 and receiving the PUP.

If all claimants of the PUP were classified as unemployed, this Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment indicates a rate of 26.6% for men and 25.5% for women.

Breaking the results down by broad age group, the new Covid-19 adjusted measure of unemployment indicates a rate of 51% for those aged 15 to 24 years and 22.5% for those aged 25 to 74 years.