THE NUMBER of redundancies fell slightly in September, according to official figures supplied by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.

The data shows a total of 4,218 layoffs last month, compared to 4,394 in August. This brings to 47,587 the total number of redundancies recorded this year to date.

A breakdown of the figures show that close to 1,000 jobs were lost in building and civil engineering, while 503 manufacturing layoffs were counted and over 240 in distribution-related positions.

The data, released by the department on a monthly basis, refer to actual redundancies recorded by the department under the redundancy scheme. The Small Firms Association said the figures were “disappointing but not surprising”.

Director Avine McNally said that the latest statistics show that action taken to date has failed to reverse the trend of job losses.

“The figures show that the loss of jobs in the services sector is still being compounded significantly by the downturn in consumer spending, with over 28,948 jobs lost to date in 2010 in this sector.

“The manufacturing sector shows the loss of 17,551 in 2010 and, given the global pressures and costs associated with doing business in Ireland, this sector maintains a worrying downward trend.”

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association also expressed disappointment. The association’s chief executive Mark Fielding said that while the number of reported redundancies is down on the corresponding period last year, the fact remained that 250 redundancies were being announced on a daily basis.

“The Government’s focus to date has been on the banking crisis. They now have to get their act together and belatedly address the other main issue affecting the economy, namely job losses,” said Mr Fielding.