The Central Statistics Office says that when unemployment figures are adjusted to take account of Covid-19, the jobless rate for October was 20.2%.

CSO spokeswoman Catalina Gonzalez said: “The Covid-19 crisis has continued to have a significant impact on the labour market in October. While the standard measure of monthly unemployment is 7.3% in October, the Covid-19 Adjusted Measure of Unemployment indicates a rate as high as 20.2% if all claimants of the PUP were classified as unemployed.

If all claimants of the PUP are classified as unemployed, the Covid-19 measure indicates a rate of 18.9% for males and 21.7% for females. Breaking the results down by broad age group, the new measure indicates a rate of 45.3% for those aged 15 to 24 years and 16.7% for those aged 25 to 74 years.

Indeed economist Jack Kennedy commented: "Today’s figures begin to show the effect of more lockdown measures, with a rise in the Covid adjusted unemployment rate to 20.2%. Inevitably, sectors directly affected such as beauty and wellness, hospitality and food service, will feel the impacts more harshly. The Covid-adjusted rate peaked at 28.2% in April, time will tell if we reach that level again over the coming months.

“Yet again, we see already vulnerable labour force groups more exposed. Younger workers have been particularly affected, with youth unemployment rising from 33.8% in September to 45.3% in October. 

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“We are also seeing a disparity between regions, with many of those in western counties at higher risk due to the larger proportion of smaller businesses and consumer facing roles. We know from previous recessions that vulnerable workers face greater danger, both to being laid off and to being pushed even further toward the back of hiring queues, when competition is fierce for limited job vacancies.

“The challenge for our long term economic health is ensuring that those who lose their jobs don’t fall into long term unemployment, which includes those who are out of work and have been actively seeking employment for at least a year. 

“This type of unemployment is often very difficult to reverse and can lead to wider issues such as deprivation, loss of skills and deepening levels of social exclusion. This has been mitigated so far by maintaining that crucial connection between employee and employer, through supports such as the Wage Subsidy Scheme. This connection can save a myriad of issues down the line when trying to reintegrate people into the workforce."