Ireland's unemployment rate dropped below 10 percent for the first time in more than six years at the end of March, a milestone that will boost the government as it gears up for an election due in 2016. The number of people out of work fell to 9.9 percent, the central statistics office said on Thursday, well below the euro zone average of 11.3 percent.
Employment has been growing strongly since the jobless rate peaked at 15.1 percent in early 2012, when Ireland was in an international bailout. It completed the bailout programme 18 months ago and has since become the fastest-growing economy in the European Union. "Today's news is an important milestone which gives us confidence that the plan is working," Ireland's jobs minister Richard Bruton said in a statement.
The number of people in work rose by 12,500, or 0.6 percent, in the first quarter from the previous three months. That was slightly less than a gain of 13,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014. The government has forecast that the unemployment rate will fall to 8.8 percent in 2016 when it is due to seek re-election. A year ago economists expected it would take until well into 2016 for unemployment to fall below 10 percent.
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