Call for action after rise in Live Register figures
Despite repeated Government suggestions that the economy, boosted by strong exports, had turned a corner, yesterday’s figures published by the Central Statistics Office showed that the standardised unemployment rate (SUR) is back up to 14.4%, compared with 14.3% in September.
There is also concern over the high number of long-term unemployed on the Live Register, with the figures showing 179,773 of those on the Register were long-term claimants — an annual increase of 21.8%.
The rate of increase of long-term claimants has slowed, and the CSO stressed that the Live Register does not measure unemployment as it includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers as well as almost 120,000 claiming either Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance.
However, the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey did show a 2% annual fall in employment levels, with the construction sector accounting for more than half the overall drop.
As regards yesterday’s CSO figures, on a seasonally adjusted basis there were monthly increases of 1,200 males and 1,500 females on the Live Register in October 2011.
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) said the unemployment situation was “desperate” and needed to be tackled by pro-jobs and enterprise policies in next month’s budget.
ISME chief executive, Mark Fielding, said: “The high level of joblessness and the continuing threat of unemployment are among the biggest issues adversely affecting the Irish economy, but little has been done at official level to address this ongoing crisis.”
Chambers Ireland chief executive, Ian Talbot, said: “The increase in the standardised rate of unemployment follows a pattern of month-to-month fluctuations, however, the underlying trend has been relatively flat over the last twelve months.”
He said the budget was “the opportunity to provide real supports and incentives for employers to create and retain jobs”.
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