Most jobless out of work for over a year

Of the more than 300,000 people unemployed across the country, almost 60% have been without a job for over a year, according to the Central Statistics Office.

Its Quarterly National Household Survey for the second quarter of 2012 shows that the unemployment rate has held relatively steady at 14.8%, aided by the fact that between 35,000-40,000 people have emigrated over the last year.

That exodus helped to ensure the 1.8% decline in employment in the year to June has not increased the unemployment rate. The other big factor was the 25,800 decline in the number of public servants in the year to Q2 2012.

Overall, the number of people in employment at the end of the second quarter of this year stood at 1,787,900, a drop of 33,400 compared to the same point last year.

The number of unemployed increased by 4,000 to 308,500.