Almost 28,000 people have signed off the live register over the past 12 months, bringing the unemployment rate down to just 9 per cent.
The live register fell 2,100 in August on a seasonally-adjusted basis. This brings the number of people on the live register to its lowest level since September 1990. The unemployment rate, at 9 per cent, is the lowest percentage since records began in 1983.
The main reason why large numbers remain on the live register despite the strong rate of job creation is that the labour force itself has grown by 200,000 between 1990 and now, mainly due to returning emigrants and married women re-entering the workforce. A lot of the growth has been in part-time jobs, while 142,800 full-time jobs have been created.
The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, welcomed the continuing downward trend in the figures and said there were a number of initiatives which were about to take effect which demonstrated the Government's determination to tackle unemployment.
These included the employment action programme and the launch of a nationwide information campaign. The campaign, called "It pays to work" will focus on the employment support services, including back to work allowances and the child dependent payment. There are also improvements in the family income supplement, due to take effect from October, which will extend its scope to about 7,000 more families.
But Labour spokesman on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Tommy Broughan, pointed out that there were still almost 49,000 young people under 25 who remained unemployed despite the recent launch of the Government's Unemployment Action Plan. Welcoming the figures, the leader of the Democratic Left, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said the impact of recent growth was still not being felt in many urban unemployment blackspots. "With more than a quarter of a million remaining on the live register, there is no room for complacency and the battle against unemployment must remain at the top of the political agenda," he added.
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed also welcomed the fall but called for a sense of perspective about the scale of the problem that remains. It pointed out that the latest fall brings the seasonally adjusted level of unemployment to the same level as existed eight years ago. At that time unemployment was recognised as a national crisis.
