Jobless rate hits 14.4 per cent

The unemployment rate rose in the third quarter of the year, new data from the Central Statistics Office showed.

According to the Quarterly National Household Survey, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 14.4 per cent at the end of September, compared with the previous figure of 14.2 per cent.

On a monthly basis, the unemployment rate was 14.5 per cent at the end of November.

The data published today also shows the number of people considered long-term unemployed - those who are out of work for more than a year - is on the rise, while people are continuing to leave the labour force.

Long-term unemployment accounted for 56.3 per cent of total unemployment in third quarter.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of people at work in the economy was 1.1 per cent lower in the quarter, a fall of 20,500, picking up pace from the second quarter of the year when a decline of 0.2 per cent was recorded.

The unadjusted figures show employment fell by 2.5 per cent, or 46,000, to 1.81 million in the year to the third quarter, while the size of the labour force also shrank, declining by 1.4 per cent over the same period.

"Non-seasonally adjusted data suggest employment continues to stabilise," Davy analyst Conall Mac Coille said.

The total labour force is now just over 2.12 million people, a decrease of 30,200. However, the number of people considered not to be in the labour force was only 25,300 higher, indicating that emigration is also having an impact on figures.

The fall in the number of people employed was seen throughout most of the economic sectors. The construction sector, one of the worst hit in the downturn, now employs about 108,000 people, down from 269,900 recorded at the peak in the second quarter of 2007.

But it was not the biggest contributor to the decline, the first time construction has shaken off that title since the employment market started to deteriorate.

Agriculture accounted for about 5,000 of the decline, while financial, insurance and real estate services were responsible for adding 4,600 to jobsless numbers. There was a fall of 3,500 in the professional, scientific and technical activities sector. Education also contrinuted significantly.

Chief economist with Goodbody Stockbrokers Dermot O'Leary noted four sectors increased employment levels in the 12 months to the third quarter, with the biggest rise seen in administration and support services activities, at 10 per cent.

Transportation and storage contributed a rise of 4 per cent, while iInformation and communication rose by 1 per cent.

"Given the success in attracting FDI to Ireland, the contribution to employment has been disappointing thus far, and reflects the capital intensive nature of some of the sectors," he said.

Bloxham chief economist Alan McQuaid said the figures were further evidence of the task facing the Government, with the labour market likely to remain under pressure for some time.

“The Government recognises that getting people back to work as quickly as possible is essential but is also well aware that there is no easy fix to the unemployment problem, and things are unlikely to improve on the jobs front until the economy starts to grow again on a sustained basis,” he said.

However, director of the Small Firms Association Patricia Callan warned the measures introduced in Budget 2012 would lead to further job losses, particularly in the retail sector with the increase in VAT. She also cited the slashing of the redundancy rebate to employers to 15 per cent as potentially harmful.

She called on the Government to rexamine the issue.

“All in all, we think it is going to be a very slow process as regards tackling the huge unemployment problem, and it will be a number of years before the jobless rate falls back into single digits.”

Bloxham expects unemployment to fall to an average of 14 per cent in 2012, before declining further the following year to 13.5 per cent.

Davy said it remains wary of the seasonal adjustment applied to the Irish labour market data.

"At face value, today's data figures are weaker than expected but we will need to see more evidence before deciding if there has been a renewed deterioration in the Irish labour market in the third quarter," Mr Mac Coille said.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said a major investment and job creation programme is urgently needed to get people back into employment.

"The continued imposition of austerity is decimating the economy and the recent budget will only serve to make the situation worse. It will cost us more jobs," said chief economist Paul Sweeney.

"The latest figures confirm a very worrying and dangerous trend, with long-term unemployment rising to 56.3 per cent from 47 per cent last year. That is quite shocking and indicative of the huge damage being done to both economy and society by current policies."