Jobless rate soars with 16pc of men now out of work
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UNEMPLOYMENT among men approached 16pc in the three months to October as "disappointing" figures showed no signs of the job losses slowing.
Unemployment would have been worse but for large numbers of foreign workers leaving the labour force, and the country, during the three months.
Economists had been expecting this outflow, but it came later than anticipated.
Foreign workers -- mostly from eastern Europe -- have borne the worst of the jobs crisis, because of the number working in the two hardest-hit sectors -- construction and retailing. Unemployment among non-nationals was put at 17.2pc, versus 12.4pc for Irish nationals.
"Falling numbers of non-Irish nationals accounted for almost two-thirds of the reduction in the labour force," NCB Stockbrokers economist Brian Devine said.
"The emigration valve is likely to continue alleviating the rise in the unemployment rate, not enough to stop it continuing to rise towards 13.5pc next year."
Allowing for seasonal factors, the overall unemployment rate was 12.4pc in the quarter, with 271,000 people out of work. However, 333,000 told a CSO survey they were unemployed -- which may better reflect the scale of under-employment in the economy.
Construction again showed the biggest annual job loss, down 86,800. This was followed by a loss of 45,300 jobs in industry, and 32,500 in the wholesale and retail trade.
There was a surprise increase in the quarter in numbers employed in financial services, but many banks are planning to lay off staff next year. The numbers working in private health services increased, with total employment up 13,000 in the sector.
Total employment fell by 40,200 from the previous quarter, bringing the job loss over 12 months to 183,400. In total, the economy has shed 236,300 jobs over the course of this recession.
Improvement
"This still represents a significant improvement on the near 80,000 drop in the first three months," said Ulster Bank economist Simon Barry.
Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar said the figures showed Finance Minister Brian Lenihan had "lost touch with reality" when he claimed the worst was over. "No amount of George Bush-style declarations of victory can disguise the fact that Ireland is still mired deep in recession," he said.
The Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association said small businesses had been abandoned by an "out of touch" Government.
"With NAMA and the Budget now out of the way the Government needs to focus on saving the wider economy by making a concerted effort to address the collapsing labour market," chief executive Mark Fielding said.
- Brendan Keenan
Irish Independent
