The number of redundancies reported in August rose by 27 per cent year-on-year to 2,334, according to figures released yesterday by the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment.
This brings the total number of people who have been made redundant so far this year to 17,370, an increase of 1,637 when compared to the same period in 2006.
Particularly high losses were incurred in the engineering and manufacturing sectors in the first eight months of the year, with more than 5,100 redundancies reported to the department.
The building and engineering sector accounted for 13 per cent of jobs lost so far this year, with 2,291 people in these sectors being made redundant.
The financial services sector has not escaped either, with more than 700 employees in banking, finance and insurance companies losing their jobs.
A number of high-profile job cuts have been announced recently which would not have been factored into the department's figures.
Coca Cola announced last week that 256 workers would lose their jobs a result of a decision to close its Drogheda plant in September next year. It said it would offer a redundancy package, and there would be opportunities for about 90 people to work in the company's other two Irish plants.
Meanwhile, Electronics manufacturer Analog Devices is expected to seek 150 redundancies at its Limerick plant following the decision to phase out one of its factories on the site.
