New figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have raised fears that highly skilled workers are seeking employment abroad.
The data revealed that the number of working-age Dubliners on the Live Register is falling.
Dublin Chamber Policy Director Aebhric Mc Gibney said: "On the face of it, Dublin has 28 per cent of the population but only accounts for 24 per cent of the Live Register. This contradicts other Government data which shows that four out of every ten redundancies in the past year were in Dublin."
The figures show that the only regions to see an increase in live register numbers are the Mid-East and Dublin which have gone up by 154 (0.4 per cent) and 75 (0.1 per cent) respectively.
The number of males in both areas rose by 0.3 per cent.
These new figures may be shedding light on the true level of job losses in the capital as individuals seek work elsewhere instead of registering.
"We are concerned at this evidence of a brain drain out of Dublin and Ireland. It is these graduates and the many highly skilled individuals that live in Dublin that are the drivers of future growth,” said Mr Mc Gibney.
The overall number of people on the Live Register decreased by 1,805 in March, to reach 435,121, which represents a 0.4 per cent reduction on last month. In the year to March the unadjusted Live Register went up 65,918 (17.9 per cent).
The largest falls in registration were in the West and Mid-West regions where both saw a 1.2 per cent decrease. All regions showed a decrease in the number of females on the register with the exception of the Mid-East region which went up by 65 (0.5 per cent).
March also saw a decline in the number of both Irish and non-Irish nationals on the register with a decrease of 610 (0.2 per cent) and 1,225 (1.5 per cent) respectively. In the past year figures have shown an increase of 61,056 (20.8 per cent) of Irish nationals and 4,862 (6.5 per cent) of non-Irish nationals.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment and includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Allowance or Jobseekers Benefit.