Recovery On Backfoot As Unemployment Rises To 12.7%

The Government's assertions that the worst of the economic crisis is over has run aground as the latest Live Register Figures show an increase of 13,300 claimants in January.

The number of people now signing on throughout the state now stands at 436,936.

The seasonally adjusted increase was the biggest since August last year, after a few months in which the figure appeared to be stabilising.

Both opposition parties have jumped at the figures with Fine Gael claiming the Government was "deluding itself by talking up a recovery".

Party spokesman Leo Varadkar said: "At the end of last year the Government was trumpeting a slowdown in the number of people joining the live register. Fianna Fáil has successfully thrown this into reverse, with the live register accelerating dramatically back to five figure job losses per month.

"The increase of 13,341 in the month is a dead cat bounce for unemployment levels. Without the pressure valves of emigration and further education, the live register would now stand at half a million."

Meanwhile, the Labour Party's Spokesperson on Enterprise, Willie Penrose, said the Live Register figures for January casts serious doubts on Fianna Fail claims that we are over the worst of the downturn.

"Despite the increasingly dire figures that we see today, there is absolutely no indication whatsoever that the Government has any plan to get out us of this grim situation," the Labour TD said.

He added: "What is particularly disturbing is the fact that so many young people are out of work, with one third of the labour force, between the age of 20 and 24, now unemployed."

Responding to Opposition criticism in the Daíl over the latest unemployment figures, Mr Cowen said the Government's refusal to defer difficult decisions was the means by which job creation could be achieved.

(DW/GK)