Source: CSO

The Irish Live Register rose by 5,800 to a new all-time record in June: 444,900.

The seasonally adjusted Live Register total increased from 439,100 in May to 444,900 in June, an increase of 5,800, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). In the year to June 2010 there was an unadjusted increase in the Live Register of 37,420 (+9.0%). This compares with an increase of 43,788 (+11.1%) in the year to May 2010.

January of 2009 represented the spike in claimant increases in any month, with a record 33,000, or 11.3%, rise - - 26,700 additions in February, 20,000 in March; 15,800 in April; 13,500 in May; 11,400 in June; 10,500 in July; 5,400 in August and 600 in September. The total fell 3,000 in October; rose 900 in November and another 3,300 were added in December, to bring the end 2009 total to 426,700. The total fell by 500 in April 2010 and rose to a record 439,100 in May.

Other features include: There was an increase of 4,800 males and 1,100 females in the seasonally adjusted series in June.

The average net weekly increase in the seasonally adjusted series in June 2010 was 1,450, which compares with a weekly increase of 1,650 in the previous month.

The standardised unemployment rate in June was 13.4%. This compares with 12.9% in the first quarter of 2010, the latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the Quarterly National Household Survey.

In the month, the estimated number of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register was 41,790 males and 37,449 females.

The CSO said the Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Allowance. Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest seasonally adjusted figure, for January to March 2010, is 277,400 persons unemployed.

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The Director of the Small Firms Association, Avine McNally said: “the Live Register figures announced today are worrying and they remain a major challenge. An increase of 5,800 in a month and a 9% increase in the last 12 months shows the weakness in our labour market, with many firms still placing people on short time working or implementing redundancies. During the month of June 193 people joined the Live Register every day.”

McNally added: “Our ability to create jobs has been severely damaged by a loss to competitiveness and it will continue to be a problem until the issue of cost competitiveness is addressed. We need a clear focus from Government on what can be done to stem the tide - the jobs crisis is very real and immediate action must be taken. It is vital that the Government prioritise the restoration of cost competitiveness to the small business sector; generate confidence in the economy and create the enterprise environment where job losses can be stabilised and created.”

"The Government is concerned by the difficulties that households are facing due to unemployment and job creation is the priority for Government," said Minister for Social Protection, Éamon Ó Cuív TD today.

"We recognise that the issues around job creation and unemployment require a strategic approach across Government. It is for this reason that An Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD re-organised the key departments involved in assisting people who have lost their jobs and require income support and assistance in education and training and in creating new jobs in enterprise and through innovation."

Responding to the Live Register figures published today by the CSO, Ó Cuív said: "The Live Register rises every June without exception, due to seasonal factors. It has now reached 444,900 on a seasonally adjusted basis which includes 64,000 people who have casual or part time work. The month-on-month increase in the Live Register for June 2010 is the lowest June increase since 2007. This increase in the Live Register during the summer months will be reversed in the autumn.
"A significant number of those people who came on to the Live Register since the beginning of May are people who were in receipt of the Back to Education and Training Allowance. Recipients of the Back to Education and Training Allowance qualify for Jobseeker’s payments during the summer break. At the end of May 2010 there were 6,000 more people (a 70% increase) supported by the Back to Education and Training Allowance compared to the end of May 2009. Many of those are now on the Live Register over the summer period.

"Job creation is a priority for Government. We recently launched the Employer PRSI Incentive Scheme as part of a much bigger Government strategy to deal with the difficulties of unemployment and the need to create new jobs. The Employer PRSI Incentive Scheme will support job creation and counter the drift of people into long-term unemployment and welfare dependency. This scheme is focused on people who have been on the Live Register for 6 months or more."

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O'Keeffe TD, said: “We know that behind every set of unemployment figures lie many human stories - and the loss of even one job is always one too many. However, the Government's strategy is as much about creating new jobs as it is about supporting unemployed workers so that they can get back into the labour force as the economy turns.

"Our training programmes and extra places in further and higher education are re-skilling our workforce to take up new jobs in growth areas of the economy. And the Government will persist with our focus on the core recovery policies that will get people back to work: competitiveness; human capital; innovation; infrastructure; green economy; and trade."

Ó Cuív added: "Across the Government we are providing income supports for vulnerable people, more training and education places for those who need to re-skill and supporting innovation and diversification in areas ranging from technology to food production and outdoor activity tourism.

"The issue of enforced inactivity is a huge challenge for people when they are unemployed and seeking work. I am bringing measures in the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas at present in the area of job activation and meaningful work activity for people seeking work. Once statutory responsibility for job activation schemes transfer to my Department in July (they include the Community Employment Scheme; Rural Social Scheme, the Community Services Programme and Job Initiative scheme) I will examine ways to use these schemes to create further opportunities to provide social employment." At present there are over 50,000 people involved in the entire range of activation programmes across Government departments and state agencies (including the Back to Education and Training Allowance participants).

"The Government re-affirms its commitment to protecting the most vulnerable of all ages and to creating the conditions that will create new jobs," concluded Ó Cuív.