Unemployment in Ireland was down for the fourth quarter of 2017, marking the twenty second quarter in succession where unemployment has declined on an annual basis, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 6.4% for Q4 2017. During the quarter there were 144,100 people unemployed, down 23,400 from the same period last year.

As for employment, the CSO reported that there was an annual increase in employment of 3.1% or 66,800 in the fourth quarter of 2017, bringing total employment to 2.23 million. The overall employment rate stood at 68.3% in Q4 2017 compared to 67.1% in Q4 2016. 

Employment rose in twelve of the fourteen economic sectors on an annual basis in the final quarter of 2017. The greatest rates of increase were posted in the administrative and support services activities, and construction sectors.