Limerick City and Donegal had the highest levels of youth unemployment in April 2011, with rates of 50% and 49% respectively, it was revealed today.
According to the Central Statistics Office's 'At Work - Employment, Occupations and Industry in Ireland' report, there were over 82,000 people under the age of 25 out of work in April 2011, up from 47,122 in 2006 - an unemployment rate of 39%.
One in five unemployed people in April 2011 were non-Irish nationals, accounting for 77,460 persons overall.
More than 53,000 people moved to Ireland in the year leading up to April 2011 and of these 47,111 were aged 15 or over, with just over 37% of this group being Irish.
Unemployment among these Irish one-year immigrants stood at just over 3% compared with a lower rate of 26% for non-Irish immigrants.
The research also shows that the largest growth in employment was seen in primary education, where the numbers of those at work rose by more than 18,000.
The largest declining industry was construction and civil engineering, where numbers at work fell by more than 73,000.