THE NUMBER of people in receipt of unemployment benefit fell for a third straight month in November.
The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the numbers signing on the Live Register, when adjusted for seasonal factors, declined by 4,200 to 438,800 last month.
The figures indicate a standardised rate of unemployment of 13.5 per cent in November, down from 13.6 per cent the previous month.
Separately, Department of Enterprise figures show the number of redundancy claims filed so far this year was 55,910, a drop of 23 per cent on the 72,880 received for the same period in 2009. The number of claims recorded by the department in November was 4,608, down 21 per cent on the same month last year.
The worst-hit sector was again construction, with building and civil engineering accounting for more than 20 per cent of all claims in November.
Both sets of figures were described by the Government as further evidence that the jobs market was “stabilising”.
Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe said while unemployment was still too high, there were “encouraging” signs that people were gradually returning to the labour force.
Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív said last month saw the first fall in the Live Register since 2004, and the biggest November fall since 1999.
But Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Richard Bruton claimed the figures were the clearest indication yet of the impact of emigration. “These people are not leaving the Live Register to take up new jobs – they are leaving the country,” he said.
Labour’s Willie Penrose said: “Virtually all of the decline can be attributed to factors such as the emigration, the likes of which we have not seen since the 1980s.”
A breakdown of the CSO figures showed that roughly one-third, or 150,327, of the Live Register in November were classified as long-term claimants or those on the register for more than one year.
So far this year, the number of long-term male claimants has increased by 43,105 or 64.1 per cent, with the number of females up 15, 875 or 66 per cent.
The total number of long-term claimants increased by 2,719 or 1.8 per cent in November. However, the number of short-term claimants fell by 7,270 or 2.6 per cent last month. About two thirds, or 274,675, of the total claimants last month were short-term, compared to 322,158 or 77.9 per cent in November last year.
The fall of 47,483 over the year consisted of a decrease of 38,970 in the number of male short-term claimants and a decrease of 8,513 in female short-term claimants.
Positive data on exports also emerged yesterday as the NCB Purchasing Managers’ Index pointed to higher output and new business levels in manufacturing.
The index, which indicates the health of the manufacturing industry, rose to 51.2 last month, compared to 50.9 in October. The output index rose slightly from 51.1 to 51.5 in November, the fastest pace since July, while the measure of new orders increased from 50.5 in October to 51 in November.
