Figures issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on Monday show that Irish redundancies for the year to November amounted to 37,296, an increase of 57.1 per cent on the cumulative total this time last year.

The number of redundancies notified to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment during November was 5,271, a 121.5 per cent increase on the figure for November 2007.

The annual rate has been in the range 23,500-25,500 since 2002.

The number of redundancies has been accelerating in recent weeks and in November the services sector had 1,819 statutory redundancies; building and civil engineering sector accounted for 1,669 of the overall total of 5,271 while manufacturing and engineering suffered 1,024 job losses.

A total of 3,740 men lost their jobs under the scheme last month, compared to 1,531 women, while 303 part-time employees were made redundant in November.

Jim Curran, head of research at the small business lobby group Isme, said: "The latest figures confirm that the jobs market is in crisis, with a significant 155 job losses being announced on a daily basis. If remedial action is not taken to address the cost environment, the lack of affordable credit and the general uncertainty as a consequence of government inaction, the situation will continue to rapidly deteriorate."

The Assistant Director of the Small Firms Association, Avine McNally stated that“the redundancy figures announced today are very worrying but not surprising.”

“The loss of jobs in the services sector is being compounded significantly by the downturn in consumer spending. The manufacturing sector shows the loss of 7,000 jobs, given the global pressures and costs associated with doing business in Ireland this sector maintains a worrying downward trend. It is also evident from the figures that the construction downturn still has a significant impact, with the loss of just under 9,000 jobs in the building and civil engineering sector.

Figures also highlight that men are twice as likely to be made redundant than females.

Overall the redundancy figures offer no room for comfort for any sector. In 2009, the scope, extent and impact of redundancies will be far worse.”