Calls for urgent intervention as unemployment jumps by 70pc
THE number of people unemployed leapt by almost 70pc at the end of last year, prompting calls for urgent action to stop the haemorrhaging of jobs.
The number of people out of work rose by almost 70,000 to 170,600 in the final quarter of 2008 with men bearing the brunt of the job losses by a factor of nearly four to one as construction work dried up, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
The number of people working nationwide fell by 4pc, or almost 87,000, since the end of 2007 -- the largest decrease seen since the CSO first started its labour force survey in 1975.
The number of people working in Ireland is still over two million, but the unemployment rate has risen to 7.7pc and is now higher than the EU average.
Economy-wide, some 45,900 building jobs were lost last year, 18,200 jobs went in the wholesale and retail trade and production industries, 12,400 jobs were lost in manufacturing, 11,600 jobs went in financial services and 10,500 were lost in hotels and restaurants.
However, education bucked the trend with 6,300 extra people employed, and health employment also grew by 3,500.
Participation in the labour force fell as more people opted to study or retire.
Despite these shocking figures, the Government is placing all its emphasis on getting the national finances in order and has thrown in the towel on jobs, said Labour employment spokesman Willie Penrose.
"However, every job lost costs the State €20,000 per annum in social welfare payments and tax foregone,'' he said.
Finances
"It is clear that we will never get the public finances back in order unless we stem the loss of jobs and get people back to work.''
Business group ISME said the lack of a government plan was contributing to the disastrous unemployment figures, and called for a one-year employers' PRSI holiday for all new jobs created.
"Even today no one at Government level appears to realise that we are in crisis. The 'do nothing' approach is causing irreparable damage which will take generations to resolve, unless immediate action is taken," said ISME chief executive Mark Fielding.
The staggering rise in unemployment shows the true scale of the unemployment crisis, yet the Government still has no strategy to get people back to work, or help the crucial small and medium sized firms who are facing huge difficulties, said Fine Gael labour affairs spokesman Damien English.
SIPTU researcher Marie Sherlock said employment opportunities must be provided for the thousands now finding themselves jobless.
"Whatever about new records being set at the end of 2008, they are sure to be broken in 2009 when consideration is given to the devastation already seen in January with the increase in the Live Register," she said.
- Aideen Sheehan
