Gerard C. Connolly
Question:76 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Finance the reason the seasonally adjusted live register began to rise from May 1995, while economic and employment growth was strong and sustained. [17283/96]
Written Answers. - Live Register.
The seasonally adjusted live register has fallen by 2,200 on the May 1995 figure. This is evident from the most recent figure, that for October 1996, published last Friday. In the past three years, our strong economic growth has translated into strong employment creation — some 136,000 net additional jobs have been created in that period.
The effect on unemployment also has been marked — there has been a net reduction of 40,000 in unemployment over the three years. The employment/unemployment figures I have quoted are based on the Labour Force Survey, which is the authoritative source for these figures, as stated by the Central Statistics Office. The figures show beyond all doubt that the strong economic and employment growth has been accompanied by a marked reduction in unemployment as confirmed by the Labour Force Survey.