In a 0.2pc month-on-month increase, unemployment in Ireland is just shy of 15pc for the month of June, according the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The trend over the past three months has seen marginal increases each time, with the figure rising from 14.7pc in May to 14.9pc in June, representing an increase of 0.5pc on the same time last year.
The seasonally adjusted figure indicates that 2,700 more people, most of which are females, have signed on to the live register since last month, reaching a total of 440,600.
The number of long-term unemployed has also increased by 10,520 to 199,249.
Chambers Ireland has expressed concern at the increasing unemployment rate. “Since the beginning of the year, the numbers signing on to the live register have been slowly creeping up. The Government must make employment its priority if we are to see any changes in these figures,” said Seán Murphy, Chambers Ireland deputy chief executive.
“They need to focus on containing costs rather than raising taxes and make sure that any new measures brought in are there to support jobs and employment instead of heaping more costs onto business. The reported plans by the Department of Social Protection to increase PRSI and transfer the cost of sick pay onto employers will do nothing but increase the number of people signing on and they must be scrapped,” he stated.
Unemployment image via Shutterstock
