The number of people claiming emergency coronavirus-related unemployment payments in Ireland fell 6% in a week as the economy began to slowly reopen, data showed on Tuesday.

The number receiving the temporary unemployment payment fell to 543,000, from 579,000 a week ago, while the number of workers signed up to a separate government wage-subsidy scheme increased to 508,000, from 482,000 a week ago, as people returned to work.

The weekly data was the first to fully cover workers who went back to work on May 18, when the government allowed the resumption of outdoor work, such as construction, and some retail, like garden centres and hardware stores. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie