Labour force rate in Mayo is third lowest in State

Anton McNulty

MAYO has the third lowest labour force participation rate in the country at 57.7 percent, with five areas in the county characterised as unemployment black spots.
The latest Census figures released by the Central Statistics Office shows that there were 60,030 persons in the labour force in County Mayo in April 2016 - a decline of 912 on 2011. This represents the third lowest labour force participation rate in the State with Cork on 55.2 percent and Donegal on 57.3 percent the only two administrative counties with a lower rate.
It also reveals that of the 79 electoral districts in the county which were characterised as unemployment black spots, five were in Co Mayo. Ardnaree South Urban in Ballina has the worst unemployment rate in Mayo at 31.4 percent followed by An Geata Mór Theas on the Mullet Peninsula at 29.9 percent and Cnoc na Lobhar in the parish of Kilcommon is on 29.6 percent.
Ballina urban electoral division has an unemployment rate of 27.7 percent while Cnoc na RΡithe also on the Mullet Peninsula has a rate of 27 percent.
The overall labour force participation rate in the State was 61.4 percent with the highest rate in Fingal at 66.9 percent followed by Dublin City at 64.7 percent and Meath at 64.2 percent.
In Mayo, the male participation rate was 64.0 percent while the female participation rate was 51.6 percent.
In terms of unemployment in the county, the 2016 Census found that there were 8,591 unemployed persons in Mayo. The overall unemployment rate for the county was 14.3 percent. This compared to an unemployment rate of 12.9 percent for the State overall.
Other statistics which were released by the CSO show that the number of retired persons in County Mayo stood at 20,018 in April 2016, an increase of 23.6 percent. The number of students aged 15 years and over stood at 10,493, a decline of 0.4 percent, compared to an increase of 4.5 percent at national level.