The number of redundancies notified to the government last month was lower than in any month last year bar December and, with the exception of May, is the lowest so far this year.
According to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD, the slowing rate of redundancies, recorded at almost 40,000 since the beginning of the year, shows that economic recovery is under way.
Responding to the latest live register figures which show a record 466,000 people signed on to the end of July, Minister O’Keefe stated: ‘Behind every job loss statistic is a human story and we must continue to tackle unemployment with a range of policy measures that affect economic recovery.
“The rise in the live register figures, which is common in the summer and due to seasonal factors, will be reversed in the autumn. The figures count over 64,000 part-time workers and I am working with the
Minister for Social Protection on plans to put these people back on a five-day week”.
The Minister pointed out that the number of redundancy claims lodged for the first seven months of the year amounts to 39,105 - a 20pc drop on same period last year.
‘This is a positive indicator that the rate of redundancies is slowing,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.
