The chart below shows the unemployment rate and the number of people leaving Ireland from 1988 to 2008. Summarising the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons when relevant.

The line graph illustrates the difference between the number of people leaving Ireland and the rate of unemployment over a 20

years

period

(1988-2008).

Overall

, the joblessness rate significantly reduced,

while

the number of emigrants experienced different trends over the surveyed

period

. In 1988, people without a job in Ireland were at their highest level, at 17%. It presented a sharp decrease over the next two

years

;

however

, from 1990, it increased and

then

gradually dropped to around 5% in 2000. During the next 8

years

, unemployment rates remained stable, ending the

period

at exactly 6%. Regarding the number of people leaving Ireland, from the first four

years

, the figure dramatically reduced from 60 000 to 40 000. After an insignificant increase between 1992 and 1994, the total of emigrants felt and maintained stable over the next 8

years

, reaching 2002 at its lowest, merely over 20 000. From that year onwards, the emigrants figure steadily increased, ending the

period

at 50 000.