The number of people categorised as being long-term unemployed rose by 6.5 per cent in the year to the end of September, according to new figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The data, which is contained in the latest Quarterly National Household Survey, shows that the number of people in employment fell by 3.7 per cent on an annual basis. This compares to annual decreases in employment of 4.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2010 and and decline of 8.8 per cent in the year to the end of the third quarter in 2009.
During the third quarter the number of long-term unemployed people rose by 69,000 to140,400 and long-term unemployment accounted for almost 47 per cent of total unemployment rate in the quarter compared with 25.5 per cent a year earlier.
Long-term unemployment is defined in terms of those seeking work for more than a year.
A total of 1,851,500 people were in employment during the months July to September 2010, an annual decrease of 70,900.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment fell by 23,500 in the third quarter.
The data shows an annual decrease of 45,000 or 4.4 per cent in the number of men in employment, while the number of women working fell by 25,400 or 2.9 per cent.
Full-time employment fell by 73,500 on an annual basis with the larges decreases occurring in the construction sector, where the numbers employed fell by 36,800 - or 24.3 per cent - over the year. Employment in construction has now fallen by almost 58 per cent since its peak in the second quarter of 2007.
There were also large declines in employment numbers in financial, insurance and property-related fields.
In the third quarter of 2010, the number of people unemployed rose by 19,200 or 6.9 per cent to to 299,000.
According to the figures, there were 201,500 men and 97,500 women unemployed during the three-month period under review. The number of unemployed men rose by 4.9 per cent or 9,500 while female unemployment was up 10.9 per cent to 9,600.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of people unemployed rose by 3,800 between the second and third quarters.
The total number of people in the labour force during the third quarter was 2,150,500. This represents an annual decline of 51,800 or 2.4 per cent.
In the year to the end of the third quarter of 2009, the number of people in the workplace fell by 2.8 per cent or 64,300.
The overall participation rate declined from 62.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 to 61.2 per cent for the same three-month period this year.
There was an increase of 2,600 in the numbers employed part-time in the year to the end of September 2010 with male part-time employment increasing by 1,100 over the year and female part-time employment rising by 1,500.
Overall employment in the public sector fell by 10,000 or 2.4 per cent over the year compared with a decline of 6,400 or 1.5 per cent in the 12 months ending September 2009.
Fine Gael said the latest figures were a "bitter disappointment."
“There has been a great deal of talk about the crisis in our public finances and in our banks. The real crisis is the crisis in employment and the devastation it is inflicting on people’s lives," said the party's enterprise spokesman Richard Bruton.
Sinn Féin said the figures were a results of "failed Fianna Fáil policies.
"Unemployment is the true gauge of economic performance. Today’s figures show that Fianna Fáil have ruined this State and failed its people," said the party's enterprise spokesman Arthur Morgan.
"The Government have failed to stimulate the economy or invest in job creation. They have instead fostered the conditions for a prolonged crisis," he added.
