The unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.8 per cent in July versus June, but was down from 9.2 per cent compared to the same month a year ago.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the number of people unemployed last month was 169,000. This marks a decline of 29,800 compared to July 2015.

The youth unemployment rate rose to 16 per cent from 15.4 per cent last month, the latest data show.

The number of males unemployed fell by just 100 from June to July to 107,900. The number of women unemployed rose by 100 versus the previous month to 61,200.

Overall, the unemployment rate for men stood at 9.1 per cent at the end of last month, unchanged from June and down from 10.6 per cent for July 2015. The unemployment rate for women was unchanged versus June at 6.2 per cent but declined from 7.6 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier.

Davy economist Conall Mac Coille said that while the latest figures chould be taken as evidence of a slowdown in the labour market, intitial estimates tend to be revised heavily. He added that it is too early to discern any negative impact from Brexit on hiring patterns.