Another 20,000 people have signed on to the Live Register in March, bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 372,800.
According to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, it is the biggest Live Register total on record, following an earlier record in February. Records began in 1965.
Read the full CSO report
The CSO says that in the year to March, there was an unadjusted increase of 173,279 on the Live Register up 87.5%, which is the highest on record.
The CSO said the unemployment rate rose to 11% last month from 10.4% in February.
More men than women joined the live register last month, with 13,600 males and 6,000 females.
The Taoiseach said a fall is unlikely in the coming months.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the rise in unemployment was an appalling situation and asked the Taoiseach to consider proposals laid out last week to create 100,000 jobs.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the latest unemployment figures were really bad.
He said it seemed the Government was throwing in the towel in regards to saving jobs.
