Jobless rise to continue in 2011

THE country’s unemployment rate is likely to rise slightly this year, before showing a minor decrease in 2012, the Central Bank forecast yesterday.

The UNITE trade union said that the latest forecast shows that the Government’s “policy of austerity is doomed to failure”.

“This is the Central Bank of Ireland forecasting tens of thousands more job losses, the economy remaining in recession throughout the year, and a continued haemorrhage of investment.