THE LATEST CSO employment figures make for particularly happy reading this month as the numbers on the live register have dipped to just 10.1% of the labour force, the lowest seen since early 2009.
The recession has had a bitter effect on Irish jobs, with the rate of unemployment in recent years consistently high despite mass emigration over the same period
At its worst, unemployment stood at 15.1% in February 2012 although the live register has been in steady decline ever since.
Analyst with Davy Stockbrokers Conall Mac Coille suggests that at its current rate of decline joblessness should fall to single digit percentage figures by April, and to 9% by the end of the year.
There are currently 356,000 people in the state in receipt of social welfare, down from the high of 449,000 in August 2011, while our most up-to-date live register figures are well below the Eurozone average of 11.2%
Of these, 216,000 are male and 140,000 are female. The number of claimants who have been doing so long term (i.e. for longer than a year) stands at 163,000.
The vast majority of claimants, 307,000 people, are over 25 years of age.
As might be expected government figures are especially pleased with the figures as the country moves deep into election mode.
Employment minister Ged Nash was in buoyant form, stating that he expects the rate of unemployment to drop below 10% long before the end of 2015.
“I am particularly heartened to see that more than 14,600 people have returned to work in January,” he said.
That’s a new beginning at the start of a new year, right across the country.
We are delivering what everyone in government wants to see – full employment by 2018.
The Tanaiste meanwhile spoke in similarly bullish terms:
“We will drive the figure below 10% in the coming months,” she said.
Unemployment is still far too high, however a single-figure rate will demonstrate the real progress being made in getting people back to work.
Opposition figures were naturally enough less enthused with Sinn Féin spokesperson on jobs Peadar Tóibín stating disparagingly that “casual work is now entrenched in the labour market”
The figures released today by the CSO show that one in five people signing on is in part time work.
Despite the slight fall in numbers on the live register 355,600 people are still signing on and 45% of those have been signing on for over a year.
Any fall in the live register is to be welcomed but if the government continues to bury its head in the sand on the type of employment being created they will fail to secure a recovery based on decent sustainable jobs.”
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