October delivered the third-highest increase this year in the monthly tally of workers facing redundancy, according to figures released yesterday by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The Department released figures yesterday showing that 2,371 people were told they were losing their jobs during October. The figures represent the number of redundancies notified to the Department in the course of the month.
Notified redundancies in October were 33.1 per cent ahead of the same month in 2002, which came to 1,782. This was the third-highest year-on-year increase of the past 10 months.
The highest jump in the figures was recorded in September, which had a 61.5 per cent increase to 2,563 from 1,587.
It was also the fifth month in a row for which the Department reported an increase in notified redundancies.
The number of notified job losses has increased in seven of the 10 months so far this year.
The month's tally was the fourth largest of the year so far, behind June with 2,701, July with 2,601 and September with 2,563.
The total number of notified redundancies so far stands at 22,519, 7 per cent ahead of October 2002, when it was 21,949.
The notified redundancies would have included the 50 jobs set to go at shirt manufacturer Clubman Omega, in Donegal, as well as another 50 across a number of clothing manufacturers in the west of Ireland.
During the month, Merck said a number of the 450 employees at its facility in Co Tipperary would go in a shake-up that will see the pharmaceutical player shed 3,200 jobs from its worldwide operations.
