More than 1.36 million people had received one or more of the Government’s Covid-19 income supports by June this year, data shows.
The number of people left without work peaked in April last year, when Ireland hit an unemployment rate of 31.5 per cent when the Government brought in widespread restrictions.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published a snapshot of the impact of Covid-19 on Ireland based on its statistics.
Figures show that before the pandemic hit, the highest number of people in employment in Ireland was recorded in quarter four of 2019, when more than 2.36 million people were in employment and Ireland had an unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent.
Public health measures introduced in March 2020 to control the spread of the virus saw the Covid-19 adjusted rate of unemployment peak at 31.5 per cent in April 2020, before falling back to just under 16 per cent in September 2020.
The reintroduction of restrictions in the new year saw it rise again to more than 27 per cent in January 2021.
The easing of restrictions over the course of this year has seen this unemployment rate fall back to 12.4 per cent in August 2021.
Those who were displaced from their job due to the pandemic were more likely to be younger, lower skilled and in part-time positions than the population average.