Unemployment falls by 1.5 percent in Mayo

Unemployment falls by 1.5 percent in Mayo

Anton McNulty

UNEMPLOYMENT in Mayo continues to fall with the latest live register figures showing a drop of 1.5 percent in the number of people signing on in the county.The latest figures for March released by the Central Statistics Office showed that the number of people signing on the live register decreased to 10,769 - a drop of 168 from February’s figures.
Nationally the unemployment figures stand at 348,676 which is a decrease of 4,700 people or 0.1 percent in the last month.
In March 2014, the unemployment figure stood at 11,861 in Mayo which means the number of people signing on in the county has dropped by nine percent in the last 12 months.
The fall in unemployment figures were welcomed by Fine Gael councillor Cyril Burke which he said was very encouraging.
“This, I hope, will give hope to the families who have had to deal with emigration due to employment needs over the past number of years. The recovery is under way but we know that many people are still not feeling the benefit...but I am confident this figure will be reduced further,” he said.
The unemployment blackspot of Mayo continues to be the Ballina region with 2,894 people signing on which is almost one thousand people more than Castlebar which has 1,982 people on the live register.
There was a drop in unemployment in all regions bar in the Belmullet district which saw an increase of 2.5 percent, rising from 747 to 766.
Commenting on the figure, local councillor Rose Conway-Walsh said that a number of people who being laid off in the Corrib gas plant as it comes nearer completion and feels more should be done to support local businesses.
“They [the government said] Shell was the answers to unemployment and emigration in Erris but obviously now we know it is not. People are being laid off all the time and the message should go to the government that indigenous businesses must be given the same support and tax breaks as the multi-nationals have got over the years,” said the Sinn Féin councillor.