Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 82: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the number of people on the live register for the month of October 2007 was up by almost 9,000; and if a comprehensive study has been undertaken to ascertain the sectors those job losses have stemmed from. [31098/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the live register figures increased in October by 8,943 year on year. The total number of people recorded on the live register for October is 157,449. This equals the average numbers recorded on the live register for the year in both 2005 and 2006 and is less than that recorded in the previous four months of 2007.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs maintains the Live Register. The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers entitled to unemployment benefit.

Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey, collated and published by the Central Statistics Office. The most recent Quarterly National Household Survey, Quarter 3, 2007 indicates that employment has increased by 67,600 in the year. The unemployment rate is currently at 4.7%, down from 4.8% in the same period last year.

Employment growth has occurred in practically all sectors over the past year with a drop showing in two sectors in the most recent quarter — (i) agriculture, forestry and fishing and (ii) transport, storage and communication. The predictions for the medium term are for continued growth, albeit at a slower pace than that experienced to date.

The most recent data available on redundancy claims, by sector, are set out in the table below: