THE SEASONALLY adjusted Live Register fell in August as 2,000 fewer people signed on over the month. According to the Central Statistics Office, the standardised unemployment rate of 14.7 per cent was unchanged from July.
The Live Register, which also includes casual and part-time workers, was 434,400 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The number of male claimants fell by 600 and female claimants fell by 1,300 over the month. There are now 286,625 men signing on and 169,631 women.
Some 201,513 of those on the register were long-term claimants, signing on for more than a year. Over the year to August, the number of male long-term claimants was 2.8 per cent, or 3,834, higher, with the female increase at 11.4 per cent, or 6,101.
More than half of the register – 55.8 per cent – was classed as short-term claimants.
In August, 19.1 per cent of those signing on were casual or part-time workers, a rise from a year earlier when 18.2 per cent of those on the Live Register were working.
A fall of 9.5 per cent was seen in the number of people under the age of 25 signing on over the year, the CSO said. The age group now accounts for 17.6 per cent of the register.
Davy Stockbrokers said there was a definite stabilisation in unemployment numbers, but there was little sign of improvement.
“As we have stated previously, we see no significant improvement in labour market conditions in 2012 and only marginal employment growth in 2013,” Davy said in a note. “Public sector job cuts and weak private-sector investment will continue to weigh on employment growth in the coming quarters.”
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) said the Live Register figures were “awful” and showed the labour market remained in crisis.
“Educational and training programmes, internship schemes and other such initiatives have a limited capacity to get people back into the workforce,” chief executive Mark Fielding said.
“The best and most efficient way to create and protect employment is to reduce State-inflicted costs, which will generate confidence in business, increase consumer spending, which in turn will lead to job creation.”
