Slight rise in jobless claiming benefit

THE NUMBERS claiming jobless benefits rose slightly in March, but not by enough to push up the overall rate of unemployment, according to figures published yesterday.

When adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, there were 442,000 people in receipt of dole payments in March, up 1,100 on February, according to the Central Statistics Office. The is slightly below the peak of 448,800 claimants registered in September last year.

According to a separate set of figures published alongside the claimant count numbers, the percentage of the labour force out of work remained at 14.7 per cent in March. This is the second-highest rate in the EU after Spain.

Although the unemployment rate was revised upwards by one percentage point two weeks ago, the trend continues to suggest that joblessness levels have been stable over the past six months. The numbers under 25 years of age in receipt of jobless benefits fell for the sixth consecutive month on a seasonally adjusted basis, to stand at 82,500.

There has been a downward trend since the young person claimant count peaked at 89,400 in October 2009.

However, more detailed information on those at work, published two weeks ago, showed that youth employment continued to fall sharply in 2010. This would suggest that the decline in under-25 dole recipients in March was the result of young people leaving the labour market entirely rather than jobless youths moving from benefits to work.

Men continue to account for almost two-thirds of people on welfare. In March, 286,900 men claimed benefits, according to seasonally adjusted figures.

The proportion has fallen slightly in recent months. The decline has been the result both of fewer male claimants and more women receiving benefits.

In March, 155,100 women were on the dole – an all-time high and up almost 10,000 over 12 months.

The figures, not adjusted for seasonal factors, show that long-term unemployment continues to rise.

Those who have been claiming benefits for a year or more reached 38 per cent of the total in March. A year ago the percentage stood at just over one-quarter.

Underemployment also continued to rise in March. Casual and part-time workers doing fewer than a set number of hours per week are entitled to claim benefits.

In March, 86,155 people were in this position, up by more than 1,000 on February and the highest number on record.

Irish nationals accounted for just over 82 per cent of claimants in March, up slightly on the same month in 2009.

Citizens from the EU accession states accounted for most of the foreign national claimants. In March, almost 44,000 people from the 12 countries which have joined the EU since 2004 were claiming benefits. There has been no significant change to this figure over the past two years.