Live Register numbers fall to 157,200

The number of people signing on the Live Register fell by 2,100 in January to 157,200, putting the unemployment rate at 4.2 per cent, less than half the EU average, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office.

The figures compare to a rise of 300 in the same month last year. Nearly twice as many women (1,200) as men (700) were taken off the register last month.

The January numbers mark an 8 per cent fall from the 171,200 singing on in January 2004 - the biggest annual reduction since July 2001, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

Davy economists Mr Robbie Kelleher and Mr Rossa White said they expected the trend to continue in the first half of the year.

The Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed welcomed the slight decrease. However, its general secretary, Mr Eric Conroy, said recent redundancies would not have been captured in January but would result in higher numbers next month.

Labour Party spokesman on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Brendan Howlin, said the recent job losses represented a bleak start to this year.

"Clearly Ireland is having problems maintaining jobs in the manufacturing sector as international companies look to cheaper labour costs in eastern Europe and Asia. Our manufacturing base is being steadily eroded" Mr Howlin said.

Ireland's unemployment rate is less than half of the euro zone average of almost 9 per cent. During 2004 the total numbers signing on the Live Register averaged 166,000, some 6,400 below the 2003 average of 172,400.

Bloxham Stockbrokers economist Mr Alan McQuaid said 2004 was a very good year for the labour market. He said total employment this year was forecast to grow less rapidly but would still expand at a decent pace.

"Growth in the construction sector should decelerate, but the services sector is expected to show a faster rate of growth than was the case in 2004, aided by a strengthening of consumer expenditure and continued growth in the financial services sector" he said.