THE NUMBER of people claiming unemployment benefits has fallen for the second month running.

According to the latest Central Statistics Office data, there were 439,200 people on the seasonally adjusted Live Register in February, down 1,700 on the previous month.

Despite the decline in claimants, the standardised rate of unemployment remained unchanged at 13.5 per cent, just below the high of 13.6 per cent recorded last year.

The relatively small monthly drop in February was comprised of a decrease of 2,000 men and an increase of 300 women, and follows a drop of 5,800 in January.

Overall, the Live Register has fallen by 10,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis since its peak in August and September last year.

However, the figures indicate there has been a 52 per cent – or 56,080 – increase in the levels of long-term claimants over the past 12 months.

Some 63 per cent (280,474) of claimants last month were classified as short term, compared to 75.3 per cent (329,211) in February 2010.

The number of overall claimants rose by 7,343 or 1.7 per cent in the 12 months to February, compared to an increase of 84,503 or 24 per cent in the year to February 2010.

There were just over 40,126 new registrants on the register last month, down from 46,115 the previous month.

Irish nationals accounted for 82 per cent (365,137) of the total in February. Of the 79,162 foreign nationals on the register, the largest constituent group were from the newer EU member states (44,167), followed by the UK (18,065).

The number of Irish on the Live Register has increased by almost 9,500 (2.7 per cent) in the year to February, but the number of non-Irish fell by 2,104 (-2.6 per cent).

Ulster Bank economist Simon Barry said while the fall in claimants reflected the impact of outward migratory flows, it was also consistent with the export-led expansion in manufacturing.

Bloxham chief economist Alan McQuaid said labour demand weakness was expected to persist over the next 12 months, with the recovery in the jobs market forecast to lag behind that of output.

Avine McNally of the Small Firms Association said the second monthly fall in the Live Register numbers indicated the jobs market was stabilising. But she described the rise in long term claimants as a “worrying trend”.

Labours enterprise spokesman Willie Penrose called for job creation to be a “central feature” of any new programme for government.

Mark Fielding of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) called on the incoming government to address what he described as the “calamitous” unemployment problem in the country.

Michael McLoughlin of Youth Work Ireland group said 1,000 people were leaving Ireland every week to find work.

Jobs market stabilisation: lay-offs down 44%

THE NUMBER of redundancies reported to the Department of Enterprise fell sharply last month, providing further evidence of stabilisation in the jobs market.

The department was notified of 3,134 lay-offs in February, a fall of 44.2 per cent on the figure of 5,612 in the same month last year.

As the figures are not adjusted for seasonal factors, comparison with the same month in the previous year is considered to give a better indication of trends. The worst-hit sector was again construction, with building and civil engineering accounting for more than 20 per cent (763) of all claims in February, followed by manufacturing with 487 claims.

A regional breakdown of the figures showed Cork suffered the worst of the job losses last month, recording 377 lay-offs, followed by Dublin with 224.

In the first two months of 2011, the total of redundancies notified was 8,016, a decrease of 34.2 per cent on the figure of 12,183 in January and February last year.

The department was notified of 58,731 redundancies in total last year, compared with 77,001 in 2009.

Outgoing Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív said the reduction in the number of redundancies last month showed that both the levels of unemployment and employment were stabilising.

Avine McNally of the Small Firms Association said on average 135 people were still losing their jobs daily. “What we need is strong leadership from the incoming government. The jobs crisis is very real and they must take immediate action,” she said.