The two line charts compare the level of joblessness and the number of individuals who departed Ireland between 1988 and 2008.
Overall, the number of emigrants declined sharply until 2000, resulting in a substantial drop in the unemployment rate in Ireland. After that, the two figures diverged, with joblessness remaining relatively stable at a low level while emigration commenced rising again.
Regarding the year 1988, over 60,000 people chose to leave Ireland. This figure then sharply fell to about 30,000 in 1992 before oscillating between 30,000 and 35,000 for the next 4 years. In the same period, as a result of this outbound migration trend, there was a dramatic decrease in the level of unemployment, which was about 17% in 1988, rapidly plunging to its trough at approximately 5% in the end of the period.
Over the following 8 years, the situation was reversed. The total number of emigrant individuals from Ireland gradually rose to roughly 28,000 in 2004, before surging to precisely 50,000 at the end of the time frame. By contrast, the unemployment rate remained relatively stable at around 6% throughout this period, which was one-third of its initial level in 1988.