The number of people signing on for unemployment payments increased by 50,781 (13.3 per cent) in the year to April.
Live Register figures published today show the standardised unemployment rate remained at 13.4 per cent in April. The seasonally adjusted total decreased slightly by 500 to 432,500 for the month.
Some 1,500 fewer men and 900 more women signed on last month.
The Central Statistics Office said the standardised unemployment rate in April was 13.4 per cent, compared with the fourth quarter of 2009.
In the month, the estimated number of casual and part-time workers on the register was 41,713 men and 37,396 women.
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 jobseekers’ benefit or allowance.
Labour spokesman on employment Willie Penrose said the latest figures held no sign of an economic recovery and would have been higher but for renewed emigration.
"Unemployment at this level should not be acceptable in any civilised society, yet it is clear that the jobs issue remains at the bottom of Fianna Fáil's political agenda," he said.
Business representative body Ibec said the latest retail sales figures and the live register statistics showed the economy had started to grow again.
Senior economist Fergal O'Brien said: “The economy is now almost certainly expanding again and the recession appears to have ended in the early months of this year.
“The live register figures point towards a stabilisation in the labour market. The unemployment rate has now remained unchanged during the first four months of the year and has hopefully peaked. Nevertheless, the
unemployment problem remains a daunting one for Government."
Director of the Small Firms Association, Avine McNally, said despite the fall in the live register figures, they were still "a major cause for concern".
"A drop of 500 is welcomed but we need to see a greater decrease and the Government must awake from its slumber and recognise that we have a serious crisis in jobs."
Ms McNally said that while small Irish businesses had taken a series of actions to regain cost-competitiveness within their own businesses, many costs remain which are outside their control as they are government controlled.
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) called on the Government to immediately publish its plan to deal with what it described as “the ongoing crisis”.
Isme chief executive Mark Fielding said while a lot of effort has been invested in saving the banking sector, the jobs crisis, potentially more damaging to the economy, has been left unaddressed. “With increasing numbers of firms closing and no let up in job losses, immediate action is required to address the concerns of business and to implement policies that will assist companies maintain and increase employment.”
Mr Fielding said a coherent jobs strategy was a priority to stem “the tide of job losses”.
Issues that needed to be addressed include a reduction in the cost of labour, incentives to maintain employment and a policy to address business costs and competitiveness, which would assist indigenous business to survive and grow.