The unemployment rate rose sharply in the third quarter of 2003 according to the latest National Household Survey released today.
The survey which is published by the Central Statistics Office is regarded as the most reliable measure of unemployment showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis the jobless rate rose to 4.9 per cent compared with 4.6 per cent in the previous quarter.
There was an annual increase of around 7,000 to 71,700 in the numbers in short-term unemployment while the long-term unemployed increased by almost 5,000 to 26,700.
The long-term unemployment rate remained at 1.4 per cent in the quarter compared with the 1.2 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2002.
Employment growth continued in the third quarter of 2003 showing an increase of 26,000 in the year to 1,820,800. This compares with an annual increase of just over 28,000 in the previous quarter.
Part-time employment accounted for almost two thirds, or 16,300, of the annual employment increase thus continuing the marked trend towards part-time working observed in the second quarter when it accounted for almost 44 per cent of the overall growth.