Jobless total for August charts upward trend

The number of people out of work continues to rise with unadjusted figures for August showing an increase of 1,465, or 0.9 per cent, from July.

When seasonal factors are taken into consideration, the live register increased by 300 in August from July and by more than 24,100 in the first eight months of the year, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This compares to a rise of 2,338 - 1.6 per cent - in the same month last year. Year-on-year, the numbers claiming unemployment benefit were up 24,124, a rise of 16.4 per cent.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to unemployment assistance or benefit.

Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey from the CSO.

The latest figures published yesterday show the number of people out of work in the first half of 2002 rising 11,800 to 77,200.

Although the 77,200 people unemployed in the second quarter of this year is an increase of 11,800 year-on-year, it is a decrease of 2,800 for the quarter. The number of long-term unemployed has risen to 1,100 to 21,600.