Unemployment in Mayo rises in December

Unemployment in Mayo rises


Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

The number of people in Mayo on the live register rose by 2.7 per cent in December bringing the unemployment figure for the county to 12,844.
The latest live register figures released by the Central Statistics Office revealed that the number of unemployed in the county rose from 12,506 in November to 12,844 in December. The rise represents a monthly rise of 2.7 per cent but the figure has fallen by 263 compared to last December representing an annual decrease of two per cent.
Nationally there are 423,733 people on the live register which is a monthly decrease of 1,400 with 14.6 per cent of the country now unemployed. The number of people aged under 25 signing on the live register in Mayo stands at 2,058 with 1,219 of those being male.
Fianna FΡil spokesperson for Jobs and Enterprise Dara Calleary said that the figures highlighted the continued increase in long term unemployed and youth emigration.
“The fall in the numbers signing on last month has not been matched by an increase in the number of people at work. This is because the majority of the decrease is down to the numbers of young Irish workers who are forced to leave this country every single month to get a job. The heartbreak of emigration is being felt in communities across the country this week, as so many families say goodbye to loved ones who have to return to their jobs abroad,” said Deputy Calleary.
The number of unemployed males in Mayo stands at 7,820 while the figure for females is at 5,024. Deputy Calleary said the female figure was worrying and it needed to act as a ‘long-awaited wake-up call for the Government’.
“So far the coalition has failed miserably to keep its promises on job creation, with a raft of strategies, announcements and ‘packages’ that are heavy on PR and have made little or no difference to the hundreds of thousands of people looking for work.  While it comes as a welcome relief that the Taoiseach has finally seen fit to schedule a special Cabinet meeting on this issue nearly two years into the life-time of the Government, he must now insist on a complete change in direction in how his Government is tackling the jobs crisis.”
In Mayo, Ballina remains the unemployment blackspot with 3,246 people on the live register followed by Castlebar on 2,331 and Westport on 1,873.

HAVE YOUR SAY email antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie with your comments