Unemployment has risen to its highest level in two years but strong growth in the numbers working in the public sector has helped offset a sharp slowdown in the private sector.

According to the quarterly national household survey, the numbers joining the dole queue rose by 7,400 to 80,000 in the first three months of the year. The increase was up 14,400 on the same period last year, with most of the annual increase accounted for by those in short-term unemployment. The rise pushed the unemployment rate up to 4.4 per cent from 4 per cent in the previous quarter and 3.7 per cent in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, employment in the three-month period between December and February rose by nearly 36,000, with 21,000 of the new jobs being added in the public sector. Health and education posted the largest increase in employment, with the numbers rising by 17,400.

"The sharp slowdown in 'exposed' sector jobs growth was offset by the rise in sheltered sector employment," said Mr Austin Hughes, economist with IIB Bank.

However, employers' group IBEC said it was "strongly concerned at the runaway jobs growth in the public sector, which accounted for over half of the new jobs generated in the past year". It noted that jobs growth in the private sector had fallen from 4.5 per cent in the first quarter last year to 1.2 per cent this year while growth in the public sector had accelerated from 5.8 per cent to 6.5 per cent, despite the shortfall that has emerged in Exchequer revenues.

The figures also showed that women fared better than men in the employment market in the first quarter. Men accounted for the bulk of the rise in the jobless, with the numbers of unemployed males rising by 11,100 to 50,000. Female unemployment rose by 3,300 to 30,000, the Central Statistics Office said.

The number of women in employment rose by 28,500, or 4.1 per cent, compared to an increase of just 7,100, or 0.7 per cent for men.

A geographical breakdown of the figures showed that unemployment increased in all areas with the largest rise of 6,000 recorded in the Dublin area. The unemployment rate was highest in the Border region, at 6.9 per cent, and lowest in the mid-east and Dublin regions at 3.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.

As a whole, the labour force increased by 49,900 in the year to reach 1,825,400. The only sectors to show no growth in employment were the production industries, where the numbers at work fell by 7,900, and the agriculture, fishery and forestry sector, which showed no change.