Wednesday July 1, 06:26 PM
Irish unemployment rate hits 13-year high in June
DUBLIN (AFP) - Ireland's unemployment rate surged to 11.9 percent of the work force in June, the highest level since April 1996, as the eurozone nation was hammered by recession, official data showed Wednesday.
The country's Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the rate jumped from a downwardly revised 11.6 percent in May. The CSO added that 197,781 extra people signed on for benefits in the year to June.
The month-on-month rise in the number signing on in June was 21,721. This brought the total number of people signing on in June to 418,592.
The Live Register is not designed to be a fully accurate measure of unemployment, however, because it includes part-time workers and casual staff entitled to benefits.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen told parliament there had been a "very steep increase" in the Live Register since last September.
He said projections were that unemployment rate was expected to be in the region of 15.0 to 15.5 percent by the end of the year.
"It could in fact, going into next year, rise somewhat again," he told lawmakers.
Ireland has been severely battered by the international financial crisis. It entered recession during the first half of 2008 -- becoming the first eurozone nation to do so.
Official figures on Tuesday showed the troubled economy shrank by a record 8.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.
Ronnie O'Toole, chief economist with National Irish Bank, said the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment in June was the smallest increase since September 2008.
"The rapid deterioration in the labour market over the last year has been one of the most dramatic features of the economic downturn. This rapidity became particularly acute at the start of the year, though the signs are that this has peaked."
O'Toole added that unemployment amongst immigrants from Eastern Europe was running at 20 percent -- double the rate for Irish people.
For every one Eastern European worker who has joined the dole queue over the last year, almost two have emigrated, according to O'Toole.
Alan McQuaid, chief economist with Bloxham stockbrokers, said only those employed by the government were immune to the economic downturn.
"The public services is bucking the trend, with employment levels actually rising in the past year, a trend that makes little sense and one that is unsustainable in the long-run if the public finances are to be put back in order.
"Outside the public service, no sector is safe from job layoffs, and we expect things to disimprove further in the coming months. That said, the unemployment rate may not rise as high as some of the more pessimistic forecasters are suggesting," McQuaid added.
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