The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose last month at the sharpest rate recorded since 2001, boosted by construction layoffs. Una McCaffreyreports.

The live register reached an almost four-year seasonally-adjusted high of 169,700 as a result, with economists expecting further increases over coming months.

At the end of November, the live register total was 13,200, or 8.4 per cent higher than a year earlier.

The numbers, issued by the Central Statistics Office yesterday, showed a net increase of 5,000 in the register during the month, with 4,000 of the addition provided by males signing on.

Deirdre Ryan, an economist with Goodbody Stockbrokers, said 93 per cent of the extra people recorded in the register in the year to date were males.

"Given the dominance of males in the construction sector, this points to layoffs in the sector in our opinion."

Rossa White, an economist with Davy, said as house completions fall away at a faster pace, the number of claimants on the register would rise quickly in the first few months of next year.

Mr White noted, however, that because the labour market was strong outside housing the overall unemployment rate should not jump. "By the end of 2008, we see the unemployment rate at 5.5 per cent."

While the live register is not designed to measure unemployment, the figures for November imply a jobless rate of 4.6 per cent.

This compares with 4.4 per cent as recorded in the last Quarterly National Household Survey at the end of August, and proves that employment growth is not keeping pace with reductions in job numbers..

A breakdown of yesterday's numbers showed that when seasonal adjustments were stripped out, all parts of the Republic contributed to November's increase.

The largest percentage increase came in the mid-west (5.4 per cent), with the lowest growth recorded in Dublin (0.4 per cent).

Opposition politicians said the live register figures confirmed there was a slowdown in the economy.

"Ireland urgently needs a more sustainable jobs strategy built around upskilling, retaining and high-value-added export activities," said Leo Varadkar, Fine Gael's spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment.

Willie Penrose, Labour's spokesman on the area, said the figures "must send out a clear warning signal to the Government".