Reply #35: Jobless rate hits 14.8% as number signing on rises

[xchrom]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0601/breaking24.html

The seasonally adjusted Live Register rose by 2,600 in May, bringing the total number of people signing on to more than 443,000.

The increase pushed the standardised unemployment rate slightly higher in May to 14.8 per cent, compared with 14.7 per cent a month earlier. The rate is currently 1.6 per cent higher than that recorded in May 2010.

The Live Register also includes casual and part-time workers.The official unemployment rate is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey, which showed the rate was 14.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.

There was a monthly rise of 2,200 in the number of men signing on, with an additional 400 women joining the register in May. However, in the year to May, the number of men signing on fell by 0.7 per cent, or 2,095, to 288,290, while the number of women rose by 3.5 per cent, or 5,120, to 152,657.