Jobless numbers continue to rise as long-term unemployed grow

JOBLESS numbers continued to rise in recent months and more people became long-term unemployed as they entered a second year out of work.

The increase in the number of unemployed was the smallest for the last two years but that glimmer of hope was dimmed by other figures showing people leaving the country in numbers not seen since 1989.

The figures come from the latest calculations by the Central Statistics Office covering the second quarter of the year — the months April to June — and show the unemployment rate rose to 13.2%, up from 12.9% in the first quarter, bringing it to its highest level since 1994.