The Luck of the Irish: most jobless since 1997

After a couple of decades of vigorous economic growth, Irish luck seems to have hit the fan again, with unemployment rising from 8.1% to 10.2% in just a few months. This increase equals 158,000 lost jobs and is the highest jobless rate since 1997.

Then, house prices fell 10.9% in May, being the 27th month of decline

A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development showed Ireland's gross domestic product will fall 9.8 per cent this year, the most in the 30-member club.

Another report from the International Monetary Fund said an eventual recovery from 2011 would be gradual and weighed down by tens of billions in bank losses.

"Despite all the hype about yesterday's very bleak economic reports on Ireland from the IMF and OECD, it is today's employment report and next Tuesday's GDP/GNP ... figures that will bring home the reality and severity of the economic downturn," said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers.

A group representing the construction industry, whose bust precipitated Ireland's sudden decline last year, said the official data underestimated the scale of the problem.

"The situation on the ground is much worse with many thousands of construction workers losing their jobs each week since the last official data were collected," the Construction Industry Federation said.

High-tech employer, IBM on Thursday did announce up to 100 new jobs at its Irish software labs, counteracted by news of 178 possible job losses at the Irish unit of Swiss engineering group ABB.

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