No let-up as jobless rate hits record high

UNEMPLOYMENT hit another record high last month as Ireland’s jobless crisis showed no signs of easing.

The number of people signing on the Live Register rose to 470,284 in July as the standardised unemployment rate hit 14.3%, according to the Central Statistics Office.

Unemployment rates have stayed stubbornly high all year with an extra 34,600 joining the dole queues since the beginning of the year.

Long-term joblessness has emerged as a particular concern as just over 40% of claimants on the Live Register have been there for a year — up from 31% in July 2010.

There was a seasonally-adjusted increase of 1,500 people signing on in July to reach 447,900.

Women are faring worse in the jobs crisis as the number of female claimants rose by 3.7% or 6,150 to 172,514 over the year, while the number of men fell by 0.9% or 2,690 to 297,770.

An extra 1,300 women and 300 men joined the Live Register last month, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Jobseeker’s allowance claimants now represent 68.2% of all claimants on the register.

The number of causal and part-time workers on the register stood at 85,865 in July — 18.3% of the total.

Irish nationals accounted for 83.1% of all claimants. The year to July saw Irish nationals on the register rise by 0.9% while the number of non-Irish nationals rose by 0.1% .

Socialist TD Joe Higgins said the record high was proof that the Government’s austerity agenda was failing.

“The reward for austerity policies is higher joblessness. Behind this latest rise in the figures signing on is the more significant hike in those characterised as long-term unemployed which has increased to over 40% of claimants compared to 31% this time last year.

“It was Einstein who defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results each time. This approach sums up the Government perfectly. The situation demands an active movement of opposition to austerity by ordinary people in the autumn and radical alternative for job creation based on emergency public works and an expansion of state enterprise and credit for small and medium enterprises,” he said.

Meanwhile, business organisation ISME demanded the Government scrap the Croke Park deal and admit its jobs initiative is ineffective.

“The expected but still shocking Live Register and redundancy figures show quite clearly that the Government’s action is not having the desired effect on the jobs situation,” ISME chief executive Mark Fielding said.