Celtic Tiger era over as 25,000 jobs lost, says economist

THERE were 25,000 jobs lost in the last 12 months, indicating the Celtic Tiger is no longer with us, a leading economist warned yesterday.

Chief economist with IIB, Austin Hughes, described the latest unemployment figures as very disappointing and indicated the economy might be dipping again.

“It is a bad number, it probably could have been worse but we don’t expect it to get better any time soon,” he said.

Mr Hughes said there was nothing to suggest that a turnaround in the economy was anywhere in sight. “The Celtic Tiger went away in the early part of last year,” he added.

“The jobless figure is mirroring an ongoing deterioration in the economy but the state of the decline isn’t horrendous,” he said.

Over 172,000 people are now on the live register, an increase of over 7,800 in the last month, pushing the unemployment rate to just under 5%.

When adjusted for the usual rise in July the increase is from 163,000 in June to 165,000 last month, an increase of 1,600. The seasonally adjusted figure for July 2001 was 140,000, so the 12-month percentage increase is almost 18%.

The increase hit every region in the country with Dublin the worst effected with 2,674 people signing on last month.

Fine Gael’s Trade and Employment spokesperson, Gerard Murphy, said the increase in the live register confirmed the Government’s pre-election jobs announcements were nothing more than cheap election gimmicks.

The Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed described the increase as relentless.

INOU general secretary, Eric Conroy, said there was a perception the issue was not being taken seriously by the Government.

The organisation wants the IDA and FÁS to redouble their efforts to boost job prospects. Labour’s Enterprise spokesperson, Tommy Broughan, said the Government seemed incapable of dealing with joblessness.

SIPTU’s general secretary, John McDonnell, said the figures confirmed there was too much complacency about unemployment.