Figures published today show unemployment in the south east standing 9.4% well above the national average of 6.7%
At the height of the recession in 2011 it was also the highest in the country at over 19%.
However in the past five years unemployment here has fallen by 51% but still remains stubbornly high.
Following a query posed by the Irish Independent, the Department of Jobs and Enterprise said just over half the jobs which it had hoped to create in the region in a plan announced two years ago had been realised.
The region comprises of Wexford, Waterford, South Tipperary, Carlow and Kilkenny.
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