Ireland's unemployment - including those receiving emergency coronavirus jobless benefit - shot up to nearly 30% at the end of April, new figures show.
Alarming stats from the CSO show Ireland's unemployment rate is sitting at 28.2%, the highest on record and up from just 4.8% before the crisis two months ago.
The new Covid-19 Adjusted Unemployment rate increased from 15.5% in March after the number of people claiming the higher emergency payment more than doubled to 602,107, on top of the 216,900 on regular jobless benefits.
Excluding the emergency coronavirus payment, the unemployment rate stood at 5.4%.
The adjusted unemployment rate does not include 427,400 more workers on a wage subsidy scheme for impacted companies, where the state agreed in March to pay 70% of wages up to a maximum of €410 a week for an initial 12-week period.
The figures come as Taoiseach Leo Varakdar warned that people will lose their Covid-19 payment if they're offered their job back and refuse to accept it.
He said: "In order to withdraw them, you would do it in a gradual way and you would do it as businesses have the opportunity to reopen and as people have the opportunity to get their jobs back.
"Bear in mind if you are offered your job and you refuse to take your job back, you'd lose eligibility for that payment.
"But that hasn't arisen yet and in some cases that may not arise until August."
On Thursday Varadkar promised that the €350 support payments schemes will continue past their June deadline.
The Taoiseach told the Dail that the supports will be extended past mid-June, and that no decision has yet been made on when the €350 amount will be cut.
Mr Varadkar said: “It cannot last forever, however, it will need to continue at least until people have the chance to return to their jobs and for the vast majority of people that won’t be before mid-June, so yes, it will need to be extended beyond mid-June."
