Irish COVID-19 jobless claims fall below 200,000 for first time
DUBLIN, July 28 (Reuters) - The number of people in Ireland claiming temporary coronavirus-related jobless benefits fell below 200,000 for the first time since the payment was introduced last year after dropping by 5% week-on-week, government data showed on Wednesday.
Just over 190,000 people received the payment for those that lost their jobs due to one of Europe's toughest lockdown regimes. A further 3,770 people who also closed their claims in recent days will fall off the total next week.
Ministers expects the numbers to keep falling in the coming weeks after ending a seven-month ban on indoor service in pubs and restaurants this week. Ireland's unemployment rate stood at 18.3% at the end of June, including recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by Gareth Jones)
