The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose 5.5 per cent in the six months to April, new analysis of the Live Register shows.

The Live Register rose by 8,222 over the period, compared with a decline of 2,847 for the six months to October 2005, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

"While our overall unemployment numbers remain at a relatively low level by international standards, against a background of sustained economic growth, the numbers on the live register should be going down rather than increasing," said Ruairí Quinn, the Labour Party's spokesman for enterprise, trade and employment.

The CSO's analysis comes less than three weeks after the statistics office found that the Live Register climbed by 1,200 in seasonally adjusted terms in April, bringing its total level to a 13-month high.

The latest analysis of the register, which includes part-time and casual workers entitled to unemployment assistance or benefit, showed that the number of people claiming the dole for less than a year jumped 7,171, or by 6.7 per cent, in six months.

The largest proportion, or 25 per cent, of short-term claimants were aged between 45 and 54, while people aged 20 or under were the least likely to claim benefits. There was an overall 17 per cent increase in the number of women aged between 60 and 64 claiming benefits.

The number of people signing on for more than a year, defined as long-term unemployed, rose by 1,051, or 2.4 per cent. Those claiming benefits for more than a year accounted for 28.2 per cent of those on the Live Register, down from 29.1 per cent last October.

Fine Gael blamed the increases in the Live Register on the Government's failure to reduce costs for Irish businesses. Phil Hogan, the party's spokesman for enterprise, trade and employment, called on Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Míchéal Martin to discard unnecessary red tape, reform competition laws, "radically" restructure national training authority Fás and speed up the national roll-out of broadband. The Minister for Social Affairs, Séamus Brennan, said the completion of welfare reforms was one of the biggest challenges facing the State.