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Monthly Unemployment April 2026

The Monthly Unemployment rate for April 2026 was 4.8%, down from 5.0% in March 2026

Online ISSN: 2009-8456

CSO statistical release, 07 May 2026, 11am

Key Findings

In April 2026, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.8%, down from a revised rate of 5.0% in March 2026. On an annual basis, the unemployment rate increased from 4.6% in April 2025 to 4.8% in April 2026.
Breaking down the results by sex, the monthly unemployment rate for males at 4.5% in April 2026 was down from 4.7% in both March 2026 and April 2025.
The monthly unemployment rate in April 2026 was 5.2% for females, a decrease from the revised rate of 5.3% in March 2026, and up from a revised rate of 4.4% in April 2025.
In terms of age, the monthly unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 years (Youth Unemployment Rate) was 9.8%, down from a revised rate of 11.2% in March 2026.
The monthly unemployment rate for people aged 25-74 years was 4.1%, a decline from a revised rate of 4.2% in March 2026.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (07 May 2026) published Monthly Unemployment Estimates results for April 2026.

Commenting on today’s release, Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said: “The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for all people aged 15-74 years in April 2026 was 4.8%, down from 5.0% in March 2026, and up from 4.6% in April 2025. In April 2026, the unemployment rate for males was 4.5%, and for females was 5.2%.

The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed was 140,300 in April 2026, compared with 146,200 in March 2026. There was a rise of 6,100 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in April 2026 when compared with April 2025.

The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed males decreased to 69,200 in April 2026, compared with 72,700 in March 2026. The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed females in April 2026 was 71,200, down from 73,500 in March 2026.”

Editor's Note

The methodology for the Monthly Unemployment Estimates involves forecasting the number of persons who are unemployed using the trend in the recipient Live Register series. The Department of Social Protection is providing Working Age Income supports to people arriving in Ireland from Ukraine under the Temporary Protection Directive. The Live Register series includes recipients of these supports who have met the relevant criteria. This has impacted on the numbers of unemployed, primarily females, in these monthly estimates.

From 9 September 2024 beneficiaries of EU’s Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) living in Designated Accommodation Centres no longer qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance and thus are no longer enumerated on the Live Register – see Background Notes.

Data in this release are subject to revision based on updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added. In addition, it should be noted that larger revisions can occur when the most recent Labour Force Survey (LFS) data are included in the calculation process.

The Monthly Unemployment Estimates published today for April 2026 have incorporated the LFS benchmarks up to Q1 2026 for the monthly estimates up to March 2025. The estimates for April 2026 have been forecasted. Forecasted figures are subject to revision.

Key Figures

Seasonally Adjusted Monthly Unemployment
	Number of persons unemployed	Unemployment rate (%)
April 2025	134,200	4.6
March 2026	146,200	5.0
April 2026	140,300	4.8
	Number	Percentage points
Change in month	-5,900	-0.2
Change in year	6,100	0.2

Open in Excel: Monthly Unemployment April 2026 Headline Table (XLS 10KB)

Tables

Table 1a Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-74 years

Table 1b Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-24 years

Table 1c Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 25-74 years

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Table 1a Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-74 years
		Number of persons			Unemployment rate (%)
		Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2024	April	65,900	58,900	124,800	4.4	4.4	4.4
	May	66,300	60,000	126,200	4.4	4.4	4.4
	June	65,700	60,700	126,300	4.4	4.4	4.4
	July	64,200	64,800	129,000	4.2	4.7	4.5
	August	59,500	58,600	118,100	3.9	4.3	4.1
	September	61,100	56,600	117,800	4.0	4.1	4.1
	October	66,600	55,100	121,600	4.4	4.1	4.2
	November	69,700	54,300	124,000	4.6	4.0	4.3
	December	72,500	56,700	129,200	4.8	4.1	4.5

2025	January	67,900	59,600	127,500	4.5	4.3	4.4
	February	67,000	61,900	129,000	4.4	4.5	4.4
	March	69,400	61,700	131,100	4.5	4.4	4.5
	April	73,300	60,900	134,200	4.7	4.4	4.6
	May	73,700	60,500	134,300	4.7	4.4	4.6
	June	75,600	61,400	137,000	4.9	4.5	4.7
	July	77,600	70,800	148,400	5.0	5.1	5.1
	August	77,000	69,100	146,100	5.0	5.0	5.0
	September	75,500	67,000	142,600	4.9	4.8	4.9
	October	73,100	63,700	136,800	4.7	4.6	4.6
	November	72,700	62,600	135,300	4.7	4.5	4.6
	December	75,100	65,600	140,700	4.8	4.7	4.8

2026	January	76,100	69,900	146,000	4.9	5.1	5.0
	February	75,100	72,700	147,700	4.8	5.3	5.0
	March	72,700	73,500	146,200	4.7	5.3	5.0
	April	69,200	71,200	140,300	4.5	5.2	4.8

Table 1b Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-24 years
		Number of persons			Unemployment rate (%)
		Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2024	April	21,000	16,900	38,000	11.1	9.8	10.4
	May	20,600	16,800	37,400	10.8	9.7	10.3
	June	20,400	17,100	37,500	10.7	9.7	10.2
	July	20,300	19,600	39,900	10.5	10.7	10.6
	August	18,900	18,000	36,900	9.9	10.0	9.9
	September	19,400	18,400	37,900	10.2	10.3	10.2
	October	21,600	18,400	40,000	11.4	10.7	11.0
	November	24,000	18,500	42,500	12.5	11.0	11.8
	December	23,600	19,500	43,100	12.4	11.5	12.0

2025	January	19,500	20,200	39,700	10.4	11.7	11.0
	February	19,000	21,600	40,600	10.1	12.2	11.1
	March	20,300	21,500	41,800	10.6	12.0	11.3
	April	22,300	21,100	43,300	11.5	11.7	11.6
	May	22,100	19,900	42,000	11.4	11.2	11.3
	June	23,700	19,100	42,800	12.3	11.0	11.6
	July	24,300	22,200	46,400	12.7	12.7	12.7
	August	25,300	21,300	46,600	13.3	12.4	12.9
	September	23,900	20,900	44,800	12.6	12.1	12.3
	October	22,100	19,800	41,900	11.6	11.4	11.5
	November	22,800	19,100	41,900	11.8	11.0	11.4
	December	23,100	19,000	42,100	12.0	10.9	11.5

2026	January	24,400	19,100	43,500	12.8	11.1	12.0
	February	24,000	19,400	43,400	12.8	11.4	12.1
	March	21,400	17,700	39,100	11.7	10.7	11.2
	April	17,600	16,100	33,700	9.8	9.7	9.8

Table 1c Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 25-74 years
		Number of persons			Unemployment rate (%)
		Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2024	April	44,900	41,900	86,800	3.4	3.6	3.5
	May	45,700	43,100	88,800	3.5	3.6	3.6
	June	45,200	43,600	88,900	3.4	3.7	3.5
	July	43,900	45,100	89,000	3.3	3.8	3.5
	August	40,600	40,600	81,100	3.1	3.4	3.2
	September	41,700	38,200	79,900	3.1	3.2	3.2
	October	45,000	36,700	81,700	3.4	3.1	3.3
	November	45,700	35,800	81,500	3.4	3.0	3.2
	December	48,900	37,200	86,100	3.7	3.1	3.4

2025	January	48,300	39,400	87,700	3.6	3.3	3.4
	February	48,000	40,300	88,300	3.6	3.3	3.5
	March	49,100	40,200	89,300	3.6	3.3	3.5
	April	51,000	39,800	90,800	3.8	3.3	3.6
	May	51,700	40,600	92,300	3.8	3.4	3.6
	June	52,000	42,300	94,300	3.8	3.5	3.7
	July	53,300	48,600	102,000	3.9	4.0	4.0
	August	51,700	47,800	99,500	3.8	3.9	3.9
	September	51,700	46,100	97,800	3.8	3.8	3.8
	October	51,000	43,900	94,900	3.7	3.6	3.7
	November	49,800	43,500	93,300	3.6	3.6	3.6
	December	52,000	46,600	98,600	3.8	3.8	3.8

2026	January	51,700	50,800	102,500	3.8	4.2	4.0
	February	51,100	53,300	104,400	3.7	4.4	4.0
	March	51,300	55,900	107,100	3.8	4.6	4.2
	April	51,500	55,100	106,600	3.8	4.6	4.1

Monthly Unemployment April 2026