16% rise in unemployment figures over the past year

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has risen by 16 per cent over the past year, according to figures released yesterday.

The latest analysis of the live register, compiled by the Central Statistics Office, shows that 173,563 people were registered as being out of work at the end of August, an increase of 24,124 on the same point last year.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the data shows that 4.4 per cent of the labour force is now out of work,, a rate that has remained stable for the past three months. At this point in 2001, the standardised unemployment rate was 3.7 per cent.

The latest data has led to criticism from opposition parties, particularly after figures released earlier this week showed a surge in public-sector employment in the months approaching the general election.

Fine Gael finance spokesman and deputy leader Mr Richard Bruton yesterday described the Government's approach to its budgets as "cynical from start to finish. The Government was happily feathering its political nest during the three months when the manufacturing industry, the building industry, the retail trade, and the hotels and restaurants sector were all facing tightening business conditions and laying off 17,000 brokers," he said.

Labour spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment, Mr Tommy Broughan, said that latest live register analysis showed that the "collapse" in private-sector employment was even greater than had originally been realised. Employers' group IBEC also voiced concern about unemployment numbers rising over coming months.

IBEC's chief economist, Mr David Croughan, said that if high numbers of public-sector jobs had not been created earlier this year, the actual unemployment rate could have been as much as 1 per cent higher. "It doesn't augur well for the kind of stability that 4.4 per cent might indicate," he said.

The most substantial annual increases in the live register came in the Dublin and mid-east regions, where numbers claiming benefit rose by 23.7 per cent.Monthly data shows that 1,465 people joined the national register between July and August, a growth of 0.9 per cent.

This compares to a 1.6 per cent increase for August last year. Monthly rises came in came in all regions apart from the Border area, where there was a monthly fall of 0.1 per cent.