Ireland's unemployment rate drops to three-year low

DUBLIN, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in Ireland has dropped to a three-year low of 6 percent, according to the official statistics released here on Tuesday.

The statistics released by Central Statistics Office (CSO), the national statistics bureau in Ireland, showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the country stood at 6 percent in February, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month and 1.3 percentage points from the same month of last year.

In February, a total of 141,600 people were unemployed in Ireland, 2,300 less than in January and 28,000 less when compared with February 2017.

Of the total unemployed people in February, males accounted for 82,600 persons and females for 59,000 persons. The male unemployment rate stood at 6.5 percent in February, down from 7.4 percent in February 2017, and the female unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, down from 7.1 percent in February 2017.

The CSO figures showed that the unemployment rate in Ireland has witnessed a consistent falling trajectory over the last three years with the latest February unemployment rate almost cut half while compared with that recorded in February 2015.

The consistent drop in the country's unemployment rate has reflected the continuously improvement of the Irish economy over the last few years. It is widely predicted that the economy will continue to expand in the coming three years though its growth rate will obviously slow down on a yearly basis. Enditem