The Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed (INOU) has urged the Government to address what it says is the regional imbalance in economic development.
Eric Conroy, general secretary INOU
Commenting on the release of the latest Live Register figures, the body noted the increase of 8,549 in the unadjusted figures for July is predominantly made up of women claiming an unemployment payment. Some 7,061 of the total number of new people signing on are female and 1,488 are male.
A total of 177,501 people were signing on at the end of July.
'It is a very worrying development that these LR figures are at the highest level since August 2003,"said "Mr Eric Conroy, general secretary INOU.
"Of particular concern is the stark gender balance that has been recorded. Many of these women would have been employed in the manufacturing companies that recently folded.
"The traditional and assembly line manufacturing industries are extremely vulnerable to increased competition which upon closure can leave communities devastated as seen recently in Donegal with the closure of Unifi in Letterkenny."
He said the INOU again urged the Government to address the regional imbalances in economic development through the implementation of the National Spatial Strategy.
"Otherwise, these imbalances will continue to see towns and villages further isolated if large employers close and other employment opportunities and industries are available only in urban areas."
Fine Gael said the figures represented a "surge in unemployment", with 15,500 more people on the live register since May.
The party's enterprise and employment spokesman, Mr Phil Hogan, said that with rising oil prices and the threat of rising inflation this was a very worrying development.
He said the fact that the seasonally adjusted figures increased by 2,900 reflected the low level of seasonal activity in tourism, which normally offsets the rise in the number of people claiming assistance at this time of year.
"Escalating costs, driven ever-upwards by the Fianna Fáil/PD Government, are causing enormous damage to the tourism sector,driving away visitors from overseas and persuading Irish people to take their holidays abroad," Mr Hogan said.
Labour's enterprise spokesman, Mr Brendan Howlin, said the figures were disappointing and that there were no grounds for complacency with regard to unemployment and the need to create new job opportunities.
"While some increase in the Live Register figures is expected in July, the actual scale of the increase at more than 8,500 is surprising and particularly disappointing against the background of recent exceptional economic growth. Indeed there are now 40,000 more on the Live Register than in July 2001," Mr Howlin said.
"What is of even greater concern is that these figures do not include a number of recent closure announcements, such as the loss of another 300 jobs at Unifi in Co Donegal. There is also clearly a need for a more balanced regional approach to industrial development as some areas appear to be bearing the brunt of job losses but are losing out when it comes to job announcements."
The Green Party's finance spokesman Mr Dan Boyle said the Live Register trend was a cause for concern.
"An upward trend in these latest live register figures is not only a worry in itself, as a warning sign for rising unemployment, but analysis indicates other serious patterns," he said.
Mr Boyle said the gender breakdown, showing that 3,000 women were added to the register as against 100 men being taken off, seemed to indicated that many women in the workplace continue to rely too heavily on casual employment and are being further discriminated against due to lack of proper childcare facilities.
"These lessons, on how too many workers do not have access to long term and full-time employment, are lessons that this Government does not seem prepared to acknowledge or address," he said.
The Government has defended the figures. In a statement, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, welcomed "the continuing strong performance of the Irish labour market.
"The Live Register figures provide yet another indicator of improving economic performance. In particular, the fall on a seasonally adjusted basis of some 8,000 in the year represents an impressive outcome," he said.
"At just 4.4 per cent, our [unemployment] rate is the joint third lowest in the EU and is less than half the rate for the Union as a whole. When viewed alongside other economic and social indicators, it is clear that the Government is pursuing the appropriate mix of policies on behalf of the Irish people."