Close to 40,000 of the 319,723 people signing on in February were under the age of 25, the latest Live Register figures show. That means youth unemployment accounts for 12.4% of the Live Register for last month.
Overall, the number of people out of work fell to 190,900, a figure that is 23,400 lower than this time last year. It puts the unemployment rate at 8.8%, its lowest level since December 2008 and down from 10% in February 2015.
Despite this positive overall picture, the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has warned that the rate of those out of work remains far too high amongst our young people.
Youth unemployment is twice as high as the overall, having dropped marginally from 20.3% in January to 20.1% last month. Ireland’s youth unemployment is just under the Eurozone rate, which ran at 22% in January.
NYCI deputy director James Doorley has pointed to the failure of the Irish Youth Guarantee as part of the problem.
The EU initiative to supply our youngest workers with either solid employment or high-quality apprenticeships and education within four months of being on the Live Register has not lived up to the hype with only 14,650 of 28,350 places allocated last year.
