Michael Bell
Ceist:38 Mr. Bell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on recent trends in the standard unemployment rate; and the implications, if any, for future falls in unemployment. [15910/98]
Written Answers. - Unemployment Levels.
I assume the Deputy is referring to the standardised unemployment rate, or SUR. First and foremost the measurement of the standardised unemployment rate is a matter for the Central Statistics Office. In brief, it is based on the estimated number of persons unemployed expressed as a percentage of the total economically active population using internationally comparable definitions of employment and unemployment as recommended by the International Labour Office. Benchmark estimates of the SUR for April of each year are calculated from the labour force survey, with the monthly trend in the seasonally adjusted live register figures used to estimate the monthly SUR between labour force surveys.
With the introduction last year of the new quarterly national household survey, carried out by the Central Statistics Office, the accuracy of the SUR will be significantly enhanced.
As to the trend in the SUR itself, in April 1994 the SUR stood at 14.8 per cent. As of the end of May 1998 this figure had fallen to 9.3 per cent. The SUR has fallen consistently over the past four years and is now below the EU average, an encouraging trend which I welcome sincerely.
Although the recent trend has been favourable to Irish society as a whole, I am in no doubt that a lot of hard work remains to be done to tackle our structural unemployment problem. Of course it is the aim of this Government to reduce unemployment further, more specifically, to see the unemployment rate fall to 7 per cent by the end of 2000. It is a goal clearly outlined in the Employment Action Plan, to be achieved by the strategy outlined in the plan and a goal to which the Government is committed.