Live Register down slightly but Redundancies up again

4 Jun 2004

The latest Live Register figures released today show a decrease of 2,688 persons in May to 161,972, however the seasonally adjusted figure rose to 1,800 to a total of 168,000. This is the biggest monthly increase in the seasonally adjusted figures since July 2003. Interestingly while the Live Register has recorded a decrease 4,133 persons in the year to May 2004 the latest redundancy figures shows an alarming 11,000 redundancies announced in the year so far.

‘This level of variance between the two figures is very worrying as it means that the majority of those recently made redundant are completing their notice period and have yet to claim their unemployment payment while they search for alternative employment’, said Mr Eric Conroy, General Secretary INOU. ‘This will result in the recent downward trend recorded in the LR figures to be reversed as more people claim their unemployment payment.’

The Live Register recorded monthly decreases in all regions yet the redundancy figures reveal the largest job losses were in Dublin, Cork and Galway. Again it was the manufacturing sector that fared worse in May, accounting for 870 of the 2240 job losses.

‘It is predicted that the total number of redundancies for 2004 will exceed 30,000, which would be the highest since 1984. To combat this escalating trend, it is vital that every effort is taken to stimulate job creation and growth in all sectors and locations’, he added.