Unemployment is down

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell marginally in January compared to the final month of 2015, new data from the CSO  showed today.

The rate for January was 8.6 per cent, or 186,700 people, compared to 8.8 per cent in December, a fall of 3,000 people.

Year on year, the figure was down 30,500 last month, leading to a fall in the rate of 1.5 percentage points.