On March 3rd, 2020 the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Monthly Unemployment figures for February 2020. The overall figure, covering people aged 15-74 years old, was 120,100, an increase of 200 over the year, the first annual increase since July 2012. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4.8%, a decline of 0.2% over the year. Looking at these figures from a gender perspective, women account for 44.5% and men 55.5%, a year ago these figures were 42% and 58% respectively. Over the year the female MUR went from 4.5% to 4.6%, and the male MUR from 5.3% to 5% in February, 2020.
For people aged 25-74, there were 84,900 people unemployed, an increase of 400 over the year. The MUR for this age group was 3.9%, 0.1% lower than February 2019. Looking at these figures from a gender perspective, women account for 45% and men 55%, a year ago these figures were 44% and 56% respectively. Over the year, the male MUR went from 4.1% to 3.9%, while the female MUR remained unchanged at 3.8%.
For people aged 15-24, there were 35,200 people unemployed, a decrease of 200 over the year. The MUR for this age group was 11.4%, 0.8% lower than February, 2020. Looking at these figures from a gender perspective, women account for 43% and men 57%, a year ago these figures were 38% and 62% respectively. The number of young women who are unemployed increased by 1,600, though their unemployment rate only increased by 0.1 to 9.8%. While the number of young men who are unemployed decreased by 1,800 and their MUR decreased by 1.3 to 13% in February, 2020.