Number of available jobs in Ireland soared by 66.5% in June - but it's grim reading compared to 2019

The number of jobs on offer soared by 66.5% last month as the country reopened for business.

In Cork, the number of vacancies advertised on jobs board CV-Library rose by 80.6%.

In Dublin, the number rose by 76.4%, while in Limerick it was up by 43.5% and 41.4% in Galway.

But despite the increase of vacancies, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the jobs market.

Compared with June of last year, job vacancies were down by 39.4% across the country.

In three of the major cities, the situation was worse, with the number of vacancies in Cork was down 49.2%, down 45.4% in Dublin and 44.1% in Limerick.

The number of jobs on offer was down 31.7% in Galway.

Although we saw cafes, restaurants and pubs reopen this month there's still a long way to go before unemployment figures return to normal. (Getty)

Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, said: “As lockdown restrictions started to ease in June, we saw a number of different industries return to the workplace.

“However, we still have a long way to go until job numbers return to normal levels.

"Hopefully, the new jobs recovery initiative being announced by the Government this week will go some way towards boosting these figures over the coming months.”