Latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that unemployment remained static in the month of June.
The figures reveal that the nationwide rate of unemployment still stands at 7.8pc, the same as the figure recorded for May of this year. However unemployment has contracted by 1.6pc compared to June 2015.
There is a higher rate of employment amongst females, with just 6.2pc of women out of work. The figure for males is higher at 9.1pc, down 0.1pc from May.
Commenting on the figures ISME, CEO, Mark Fielding said: “The recent negative fluctuation of the euro vis a vis sterling shows how vulnerable the economy is to external factors.
The tax and welfare system must be used to put money back into people’s pockets, rather than facilitating and promising further wage increases. The notion of pushing up wage costs at this juncture fails to recognise the business realities in what is still a very challenging economic environment for the SME sector.”
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