Unemployment has risen by 180 per cent in three years

Unemployment has risen by 180 per cent in three years


Anton McNulty

IN the last three years the number of people who have joined the dole queue in Co Mayo has rapidly grown by 8,586 - a staggering 180 per cent rise.
In January 2007, during the height of the Celtic Tiger when unemployment was close to an all time low, the number of people on the live register stood at 4,760. However in the intervening three years, the impact of collapse of the Irish economy on Mayo can be clearly seen with the number of unemployed now at 13,346.
During 2007, the unemployment rate fluctuated around the 5,000 mark with unemployment numbers reaching its peak at 5,305 in August but by the end of the year it had dropped to 5,089. However, the start of 2008 showed that something was amiss with 290 signing on in the first month of the year followed by another 514 in the next two months.
The economy was well and truly going off the rails by June with 6,576 on the live register and by the end of the year the numbers had rapidly risen to 8,792. Last year saw an even greater growth in the unemployment rate with an increase occurring every month apart from September.
The numbers signing on the dole rose from 9,946 in January 2009 to 12,272 in the first six months. The unemployment reached its peak in August at 13,013 but fall back in September to 12,114 before finally finishing on 12,736 for the year.
Any hopes that the unemployment rate had evened out faded following the publication of the live register figures in January which showed the number had risen by 610 to 13,346.
In 2007, Ballina had the largest number of unemployed in the county with 1,351 and in the last three years the figure has risen by 1,932 to 3,283. However, the largest rate of increase, in unemployment occurred in the Claremorris region which rose by 258 per cent and was followed by the Westport on 240 per cent.
The majority of the job losses in Mayo came in the construction sector which collapsed in 2008 but there were also losses and cut-backs in the retail and tourism sector. There were also significant job losses following the closure of Casey’s Autoworld in Castlebar and Ballina, the ICT Eurotel call-centre in Belmullet and American Power Conversion in Castlebar.

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