Call for action after rise in Live Register figures

THERE were fresh calls yesterday for a budget focused on creating jobs after new seasonally adjusted figures showed 447,100 signing on the Live Register last month — an increase of 2,700 people.

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%.