DUBLIN – Anthony Roche is urging his unemployed son to emigrate to Australia from Ireland to escape joblessness stemming from the country’s economic collapse.

“I’ve seen the good times and the bad, and these are the worst,” said Roche, 45, who works a day or two a week after closing his business laying floors for bars and restaurants 18 months ago. “There are plenty of people there to work, but there isn’t any work out there. That’s why people are leaving these shores again.”

While signs are emerging that Ireland is beginning to recover 15 months after an international bailout, the government says the economy is in the midst of the worst crisis since World War II. The nation’s unemployment rate, at 14.2 percent in January, is close to the highest level since the 1980s when the country last endured similar austerity measures.

“Unemployment is a huge problem for Ireland,” said Michael O’Sullivan, head of portfolio strategy at Credit Suisse Private Banking in London. “Ireland has the additional straitjacket of the eurozone austerity mantra, which for Ireland may have the short-term effect of creating lots of unemployment.”

Exports grew about 4 percent last year, as U.S. companies such as Pfizer that operate in the country grew. But the gains haven’t been enough to offset job losses in the retail, construction and financial-service industries.

The country’s economy shrunk by about 15 percent as a real-estate bubble collapsed. Emigration rose to the highest since the 19th century in the 12 months ended last April, with about 76,400 people leaving Ireland during the period, according to the Central Statistics Office.