Irish COVID-19 jobless claims fall slightly as economy reopens

• Those claiming the higher, temporary payment introduced in March edged down to 585,000 from 589,000, a government official told a news conference.
• The adjusted unemployment rate does not include 467,600 people on the state's wage subsidy scheme for impacted companies, up from 456,200 a week ago.

DUBLIN: The number of people claiming emergency coronavirus-related unemployment payments in Ireland fell slightly for the second successive week, while the number of workers signed up to a separate government wage-subsidy scheme rose at a slower pace.

Those claiming the higher, temporary payment introduced in March edged down to 585,000 from 589,000, a government official told a news conference, urging recipients who returned to work on Monday in the first stage of the reopening of the economy to close their claims.

When including these recipients, Ireland's unemployment rate hit a record 28.2pc in April.

The adjusted unemployment rate does not include 467,600 people on the state's wage subsidy scheme for impacted companies, up from 456,200 a week ago.