UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES to be published today are expected to show a significant increase in the numbers on the Live Register in January, compared to the final month of 2009.
The figures will show an increase of more than 13,000 people signing on during January with people losing their jobs at a faster rate during the first month of 2010 compared to the final month of last year.
When seasonal factors are taken into account the increase for January comes to 8,000, compared to a seasonally adjusted increase of 3,300 in December.
The total signing on has now risen to 436,000 which represents an unemployment rate of 12.7 per cent, compared to 12.5 per cent last month.
Fine Gael enterprise and employment spokesman, Leo Varadkar, said that never in the history of the State had so many people been without work.
“The reported job losses for January, if correct, represent a savage blow to the 13,000 people that have lost their jobs.
When you add in the very high figure of 6,700 notified redundancies in the same month we have a very bleak start to the new year,” said Mr Varadkar.
He said that bald assertions by Government Ministers that the worst is over would not make it so.