Strict COVID-19 restrictions, including the closure of restaurants and a ban on home visits, were in place in November and were reimposed in late December until at least the end of January following a surge in infections.
Excluding those on the emergency Pandemic Unemployment Payment, 7.2% of the workforce were registered as unemployed in December, down from a revised 7.3% the previous month, the Central Statistics Office said.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Toby Chopra)
