The jobs market continued to feel the strain of economic decline last month, as redundancies remained well above levels recorded in 2002.

The latest redundancy numbers from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment show that 4,264 people were laid off in the two months to the end of February, an increase of 6.1 per cent on the same months of 2002.

Mr Jim Power, chief economist with Friends First, said the numbers signalled "a gradual deterioration in labour market conditions".

He predicted that the trend would keep hold for the remainder of the year.

"The bottom line is the background economic situation. Everything is still deteriorating, as evidenced by the European Central Bank's latest rate cut. The external environment remains difficult."

A sectoral breakdown of the latest redundancy figures was unavailable yesterday but commentators suggested that job losses among indigenous manufacturers were likely to have been particularly problematic in the year to date.

Going forward, Mr Power said firms involved in imports and exports were likely to suffer as sustained currency pressures begin to bite.

He is also expecting retail jobs to suffer as consumer spending slows.

Almost 2,100 redundancies were reported to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment last month, marking little change on the heavy job losses recorded in February of last year.

Mr Austin Hughes, chief economist with IIB Bank, said flat annual growth could be expected for most of this year, particularly since recruitment in the public sector was no longer in a position to mask declines among private companies.

In 2002, redundancies rose to the highest level recorded since 1984, as more than 25,000 people were laid off.

Mr Hughes is predicting that the unemployment rate in the Republic will climb to 6 per cent before the end of this year.