DAVY VIEW

New Central Statistics Office (CSO) data yesterday (March 3rd) suggested Ireland’s labour market suffered no further damage in February after a sharp rise in jobless claims in January. The headline unemployment rate was steady at 5.8%, and the COVID-19 adjusted rate fell slightly to 24.8%; however, both metrics are imperfect, with various measurement problems understating and overstating respectively the disruption from the third lockdown.