Jobless rate up 14.2% as car deals disguise continued drop in retail sales

THE JOBLESS total increased by 2,900 in June, while retail sales continued to fall in May when car sales were stripped out, according to the Central Statistics Office.

The climb in the Live Register pushed the standardised unemployment rate up from 14.1 to 14.2 per cent. Seasonally adjusted figures showed 446,800 people signed on during the month, a 0.7 per cent increase compared to May.

The unadjusted figures show a total of 457,948 people signed on in June, an increase of 5,066, or 1.1 per cent over the year.

The number of long-term claimants – those on the register for a year or more – rose by 49,448 in the year to June, representing 40.8 per cent compared to 30 per cent a year earlier.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called on the Government to implement a reskilling programme aimed at the long-term unemployed.

Then union’s economic adviser Paul Sweeney said it was a very serious problem in the jobs market and the wider economy which required urgent attention. “Long-term unemployment is corrosive of individual and community wellbeing,” he said. “We need to target the problem with serious programmes of reskilling and retraining.”

Retail sales remain sluggish, meanwhile, with May figures showing a 0.6 per cent monthly decline and a 5.1 per cent annual drop when car sales are excluded.

A breakdown of the figures shows motor trades rose by 13 per cent in the year to May. The increase can be partially attributed to the Government’s car scrappage scheme, which ends today.

The figures show there were significant declines in the annual volume of sales of hardware, paint and glass (-13.9 per cent), other retail sales (-10.9 per cent), fuel (-9.9 per cent) and bar trade (-8.1 per cent).

The volume of overall sales fell by 2.1 per cent in the year to May.

Bloxham chief economist Alan McQuaid said the latest figures provided further evidence that a “two-speed economy is still very much in place”.

“The export sector continues to do very well, helped by improved competitiveness and strong global demand,” he added. “However, the domestic side of the economy continues to struggle and, with the scrappage scheme for cars coming to an end, the retail sector looks like it is set to remain under severe pressure, in the short term at least.”

David Fitzsimons, chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, said the figures illustrated just how difficult trading conditions were for retailers. Mr Fitzsimons said May was the 39th consecutive month of declining retail sales.