Youth unemployment falls to 6 year low – Corcoran Kennedy

Fine Gael TD for Laois/Offaly and Chairperson of the Oireachtas Jobs Committee, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, has said that while the fall in unemployment to 9.3% is welcome, it is the drop in youth unemployment to a six year low that is most encouraging.

“The latest CSO figures released today show that unemployment has dropped again to 9.3%, with youth unemployment falling below 20% for the first time since 2009. This rate remains far too high and continued hard work is needed to drive it down further.

“Youth unemployment has fallen from a high of 30.9% in February 2012 when the Action Plan for Jobs was launched, to 19.7% today. Considering the fall in the number of people emigrating, these figures indicate very good progress.

“Over 125,000 jobs have been added to the economy since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs.

“Unemployment is the main source of inequality and unfairness. We need a government that can be trusted to secure the recovery; not one that would put it at huge risk.

“While these figures show we are making progress, the unemployment rate is still too high.

“Fine Gael has a plan to finish the job by building a strong economy which will generate the resources to invest in the services that people depend on.”