Fás: Unemployment will rise by 22,000 next year

DESPITE a 16% increase in the number of job vacancies reported to it, Fás has a pessimistic outlook for the economy, believing average employment will drop by a further 22,000 during 2011.

In its latest quarterly economic commentary, the national training and employment body said the jobless rate will average 13.4% in 2010 before falling to 13.1% in 2011. It pointed out that the employment rate fell to 60% in the first quarter of 2010, the lowest it has been since 1998.

“Average employment is estimated to have fallen by 87,000 this year, and a further, smaller, fall of 22,000 is expected for 2011,” a Fás spokesman said. “Vacancies notified to Fás are up 16% year-to-date, but still remain low by pre-recession standards. Equally, redundancies have dropped from last year but are still relatively high compared with 2008 and earlier years.” The employment body said the rate of employment growth had tracked the rate of economic growth with very little lag. However, while the economy appears to be coming out of recession, albeit at a relatively slow pace, it said the jobs market is likely to recover even more slowly.