Unemployment rising fastest among those under 25

YOUNG PEOPLE are facing the brunt of the economic downturn, it was claimed yesterday, as figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) confirmed that unemployment among the under-25s is rising at above the national average.

Fine Gael TD and innovation spokeswoman Deirdre Clune said the Government had “failed to provide any plan or strategy to deal with the crisis of youth unemployment” despite the fact that unemployment among the under-25s had increased by 171 per cent over the last two years, compared to a national average of 152 per cent.

Out of a total of 418,592 people on the seasonally unadjusted Live Register, some 91,755 are under the age of 25, according to the CSO data. Two years ago, just 33,872 people under the age of 25 claimed for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance.

“This represents some 57,833 young people joining the Live Register in the last 24 months. The devastating effect this is having on these young people and their families cannot be displayed in figures and graphs. But it does exist, and it is being ignored,” Ms Clune said.

The breakdown of Live Register data shows that the west of Ireland saw the highest percentage increase in unemployment benefit claimants in the month of June, with a 6.7 per cent increase in people signing on in the region compared to May.

Nationally, the monthly increase in claimants was 5.5 per cent or some 21,721 people.

All regions and all counties saw some increase in claimants during the month, while the number of both male and female claimants increased in all regions.

On a county basis, North Tipperary saw the largest percentage increase, with the number of claimants rising by 8 per cent, while the smallest percentage increase occurred in Kerry, where the number of claimants rose by 3.5 per cent.

On a seasonally unadjusted basis, the Live Register of unemployment benefit claimants, which includes some part-time and casual workers, has increased almost 90 per cent over the past 12 months. However, the pattern of job losses has been unevenly distributed throughout the State, with the mideast region enduring a 108 per cent spike in claimants and the southeast region seeing a 77 per cent increase.

There was a rise in claimants among both Irish nationals and foreign nationals in June.

Although the number of people claiming unemployment benefit continued to rise last month, the pace at which people are signing on is slowing down.

When the number of new claimants was adjusted for seasonal factors, the monthly increase was calculated to be 11,400. The CSO said earlier this week that this took the estimated rate of unemployment to 11.9 per cent.