The number of people out of work in Ireland remained at 7.8% in July, with a total of 169,100 people unemployed.

This figure is unchanged from June 2016, but is down 1.4 percentage points from the previous year.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) also show there are fewer women out of work than men.

The unemployment rate for men stood at 9.1% at the end of last month, which is unchanged from June and down from 10.6% for July 2015.

The unemployment rate for women was also unchanged versus June, at 6.2%, and showed a decrease of 1.4 percentage points compared to the same month a year earlier.

The latest data also shows youth unemployment has risen slightly to 16% from 15.4% last month, but overall the number of 15 to 24-year-olds out of work has fallen significantly from July 2015's figure of 20.5%.

Overall, unemployment rates have been falling since 2013.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) issued a statement following the announcement, warning of the static rate of unemployment.

CEO Mark Fielding said: "Today's figures confirm that job creation has stalled due to business cost increases. The cornerstone of productivity and competitiveness is cost control and it is time that the Government became more involved in tackling cost-creep across the business sector."

Earlier today, Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar launched a booklet entitled 'Working for Work' aimed at providing unemployed people and others in receipt of social protection payments with good information on the range of supports and services available to them.

Speaking about the publication, the chairperson of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU), Ann Fergus, urged Minister Varadkar and the Government to give additional income supports to unemployed people and other social welfare recipients.

The information was produced by the INOU and can be accessed online at the following link.