Irish unemployment drops sharply to four-year low
By Conor Humphries
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's unemployment rate fell sharply in the third quarter to below 13 percent for the first time since a property bust brought the economy to its knees, boosting the government weeks before its EU-IMF bailout ends.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, widely seen as one of the most important measures of the domestic economy, fell to 12.8 percent from a revised 13.6 percent in the second quarter, the Central Statistics Office said.
That was the sharpest quarterly drop since unemployment peaked at 15.1 percent early last year. A poll of economists last month forecast it would take until the end of 2014 for the rate to drop that low.
"These numbers indicate the economy is stronger than the headline growth numbers have indicated," said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Stockbrokers, who said the trend should lead to an improvement in retail sales and an easing of mortgage arrears.
"It's further evidence Ireland Inc is on the way back," he said.
Unemployment is seen as a crucial indicator of the real health of the Irish economy because it is less susceptible to the volatile multinational sector than headline gross domestic product growth.
The government needs to engineer a recovery in the domestic economy to meet its debt reduction targets if it wants to maintain affordable borrowing rates after it leaves its bailout in mid-December.
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
