Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that, when seasonal changes are taken into account, the number of people on the Live Register hit 400,000 for the first time last month.
The seasonally adjusted total rose by 13,500 from April 402,100. The unadjusted figure showed an increase of 12,423 in the month to 396,871.
Though the monthly increases are not as dramatic as in the early months of the year, the annual increase of 96.7% is another record, beating April's 96.6% rise.
The monthly increase was made up of 8,800 men and 4,700 women. The CSO said the unemployment rate moved up to 11.8% from 11.4% in April.
Economists see some improvement in figures
Bloxham economist Alan McQuaid said the monthly jump was lower than in previous months, suggesting that the absolute rate of increase is on a declining trend. But he added that labour market conditions were 'extremely weak', and it was difficult to be anything but pessimistic about the jobs outlook in the short-term.
'While the fall-off in labour force growth will somewhat dilute the impact of contracting employment on the jobless rate, the numbers of unemployed are still set to rise sharply this year,' the economist said. But Mr McQuaid said it now looked like the Live Register would not hit the 500,000 mark in 2009.
Stockbroker Davy said it was clear that the labour market was shedding jobs at its fastest rate in the first two months of the year and that the 'crisis point has long passed'. It said the first quarter of 2009 was also characterised by widespread wage reductions, meaning the Irish economy was becoming 'slowly and steadily more competitive'.
NCB also said the slowdown in signings-on reflected the rapid adjustment in wages in the private sector and the fact that many firms had already put in place redundancy programmes in anticipation of the marked slowdown in activity.
Ulster Bank economist Lynsey Clemenger said that while the figures were a welcome improvement on previous months, the numbers signing on would continue to rise in the coming months. 'We therefore continue to forecast that the unemployment rate will peak at 16% by the end of 2010, before falling back gradually when the economy starts to recover,' she said.
But small business groups were less happy with the figures, with the Small Firms Association describing them as 'frightening', and ISME calling them 'appalling'.
