04/03/2015

Unemployment Figures Drop

The Minister for Business & Employment, Ged Nash TD, has welcomed new figures from the CSO which shows that the number of people on the Live Register is continuing to fall.

As of the end of February, the standard unemployment rate stood at 10.1%. This represents a fall of 10.8% on the same figure last year and a two year decrease of more than 17%.

While there is usually a slight drop in the Live Register between January and February, due to seasonal factors, this year's month-on-month decrease has seen a dramatic fall of more than double the same period last year.

Minister Nash said: "Today's Live Register figures show that we are very much on track to bring unemployment down to below 10% before the end of this year. In fact, it looks like we will achieve this figure well before the Government target of end 2015.

"As Minister for Employment, I am particularly heartened to see that more than 14,600 people left the Live Register to take up work in January. That is a new beginning at the start of a new year for thousands of families, right across the country.

"Our strategies are working and clearly the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work are delivering what everyone in Government is determined to see – full employment by 2018."

(CD/JP)

Related Northern Ireland Recruitment News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

06 August 2010
O'Keeffe Says Redundancy Drop Signals Growth
The Minister for Enterprise, has defended the Government's criticised job policies by saying the slowing rate of redundancies shows that economic recovery is under way.
07 January 2015
Unemployment Continues To Fall
Labour TD, John Lyons, has welcomed the latest Live Register figures, released today by the CSO, which show unemployment has fallen from a peak of 15.1% in February 2012, to 10.6% in December 2014.
04 March 2010
Live Register Rises By Just 20
The latest job benefit figures show that just 20 more people signed on in February, leaving the total figure at 436,956. The remarkable figure compares to an increase in January of 110,664 and when seasonal factors are taken into account, the Live Register actually fell by 2,300 to stand at 432,400.
07 January 2013
Live Register Figures Raise Alarm Bells About Unemployment
The latest Live Register figures raise alarm bells about the continued increase in long-term unemployment and youth emigration, according to Fianna Fáil’s Spokesperson on Jobs and Enterprise Dara Calleary.
23 February 2010
Dole Queues Will 'Peak' In 2010
The State's unemployment rate will peak at about 13.5% later this year. The Irish Republic's training agency FÁS has said the number of people in work this year is likely to fall by 87,000 compared with last year.