There was another sharp increase in the number of people signing on the Live Register this month, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The figure has now risen by more than 60,000 in 12 months, the biggest annual increase on record and an increase of more than a third over the year.
The number of people signing on has been on an upward trend since the middle of last year, but the increases have accelerated in recent months as the construction downturn spreads to the wider economy.
In July, the Live Register figure jumped by more than 17,000 from June to just over 238,000.
This was the second largest monthly increase on record, bettered only by last month's 19,000 rise - and the total is the highest for more than 10 years.
The CSO also gives an adjusted figure which takes seasonal factors into account. This rose by 10,600 to 226,000.
