The unemployment rate stood at 4.4% in the fourth quarter of last year.
The figure represents an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 4% during the same time in 2024, according to data from the Central Statistics Office.
However, the unemployment rate for October to December compares to a level of 5.3% during the third quarter of the year, which was the highest rate since the third quarter of 2021.
The latest Labour Force Survey shows there were 128,200 unemployed people aged 15-74 years in Q4 2025, which is an increase of 12,100 or 10.4% year on year.
The data shows that the youth unemployment rate stood at 9.8% in Q4 2025, which was down slightly from 9.9% in Q4 2024.
The CSO said the total number of unemployed people aged 15-24 years was 35,000, which was unchanged from the same period last year.
The overall employment rate increased slightly to 74.5% between October and December, up from 74.3% in Q4 2024.
The CSO said the estimated number of people in employment during the fourth quarter of last year stood at 2,833,100, which is up by 2% year on year.
Statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division of the CSO Colin Hanley said the 2% rise in the number of people in employment in the 12 months to Q4 2025 "was equivalent to 56,700 more people working than a year earlier".
Almost two-thirds of those employed never work from home
Mr Hanley also said that an estimated 582,600, or 20.6%, of those in employment worked part-time.
"121,300 or 20.8% of those in part-time employment were classified as underemployed. They would like to work more hours for more pay."
The estimated total number of hours worked in Q4 2025 was 88.1 million per week, which was 2.5m or 2.9% more hours worked per week than during Q4 2024.
The data also revealed that almost two-thirds of those in employment (1,865,600) stated that they never work at home, a rate which exceeds the pre-pandemic level for the first time.
Colin Hanley said the number of people who work from home at least some of the time "decreased by 15,900 or 1.6% to 956,700 in Q4 2025".
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke said that the Irish labour market has shown "continued strength" in 2025.
Peter Burke said the jobs growth has been widespread outside Dublin, which he said demonstrates the Government's "commitment to balanced regional enterprise development".
"The latest CSO figures show a labour market that continues to perform strongly across key sectors including construction, transportation, and education."
Employment growth 'gradually slowing'
Kate English, Chief Economist at Deloitte Ireland, said the employment figures show that "Ireland’s employment market softened in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 2%".
"Although the figures were improved from Q3’s surprise sharp fall, the labour market has entered a new phase of its cycle and it is reaffirming expectations of more moderate economic growth in Ireland in 2026," she added.
"Positively, despite the slowdown in jobs added, the unemployment rate remains at particularly low levels."
Conall Mac Coille, Group Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland, said the Q4 2025 data "gives us confidence in our view that employment growth is gradually slowing, from exceptional rates above 3%, towards our forecast for 1.5% growth in 2026 and 2027".
He described those levels as "a robust expansion but more sustainable pace".
Mr Mac Coille noted that the fastest growing sectors for employment in 2025 were construction (+9% to 192,000), industry (+6.6% to 354,000), education (+7.7% to 258,000) and health (+2.8% to 393,000).
There were reductions recorded in other sectors, including wholesale/retail (-0.9% to 324,000), hotels/restaurants (-0.7% to 183,000), while employment in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector was down 7% to 184,000.
