Unemployment Update
13 Aug 2010
The most recent unemployment figures suggest that more women are now losing jobs and that non-Irish nationals are leaving Ireland seeking opportunities elsewhere. The CSO Live Register figures July 2010 show that the seasonally adjusted Live Register total increased from 444,000 in June to 452,500 in July, an increase of 8,500. In the year to July 2010 there was an unadjusted increase in the Live Register of 34,403 (+8.0%). This compares with an increase of 37,420 (+9.0%) in the year to June 2010. The standardised unemployment rate in July was 13.7%.
There was an increase of 3,900 males and 4,600 females in the July figures, bucking previous trends of more men becoming unemployed - given that over half of the increase in unemployment over the past 2 years is accounted for by the construction centre. In July 322,270 (69.0%) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term, a decrease from 333,979 (76.4%) in January 2010. This fall consisted of a decrease of 20,055 male short term claimants and an increase of 8,346 female short term claimants.
According to the latest Fas Quarterly Labour Market Commentary, despite the jobs downturn, part-time employment continues to rise (up 8,000 year-on-year) implying that the use of reduced hours (as an alternative to fully laying off workers) has been an important element in the cost-reduction strategy of some employers during the recession.
In July there were 387,612 Irish nationals and 79,212 non-Irish nationals on the Live Register. This represents a monthly increase of 13,575 (+3.6%) in Irish nationals and an increase of 367 (+0.5%) in non-Irish nationals. In the year to July 2010 the number of Irish nationals on the Live Register increased by 35,289 (+10.0%), while the number of non-Irish nationals decreased by 886 (-1.1%). This suggests that many migrants are leaving the country to seek opportunities elsewhere.
According to the latest ESRI Quarterly Economic Commentary, Summer 2010, they have an expectation that employment will not grow between 2010 and 2011 and instead, expect the number employed to average close to 1.9 million in both 2010 and 2011. -In spite of the stability in the numbers employed, they expect unemployment to fall between 2010 and 2011, averaging 13ΒΌ per cent in 2010 and 13 per cent in 2011. This expected fall in the rate of unemployment is related in part to expected migratory outflows - 70,000 in the year ending April 2010 and 50,000 in the year ending April 2011.
It is also symptomatic of the fact that Government policies are deflating the economy throwing more and more out of work, closing businesses and pushing up emigration rates. The rise of 34,403 in the live register in the year to July would have been far higher were not so many people forced to either leave the country or stay out of the workforce. Congress has repeatedly said that when there is such clear evidence that policies are not working, it is time to change and not to keep digging. Further deep cuts in the comibng December Budget and a panic reaction - like selling off valuable assets throigh privatisation - will only exacerbate the crisis. Read more here