The numbers claiming benefits on the Live Register fell across all regions during September, with Mayo posting the biggest county fall, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today.Earlier this week, Live Register statistics released from the CSO revealed the number of people claiming unemployment benefits had fallen by over 16,000 since last month. There were 423,639 people signing on the register during September compared to 440,056 last month, a drop of 16,417 (-3.7 per cent).
Additional figures published today showed the decline was reflected across the State, with the largest percentage fall in the Border region (-4.8 per cent). The smallest decrease was in the greater Dublin area, at -2.9 per cent. In the year to September 2009 the number of people on the unadjusted Live Register rose by 183,422 (+76.4 per cent). All regions showed annual increases with the largest percentage increase in the mid-east region (+83.1 per cent), while the south-east region had the smallest increase (+68.1 per cent).
During September, however, the number of males claiming benefits fell in all regions, with the biggest downward trends coming in the Border and mid-east regions (-2.9 per cent), while the smallest percentage decreases were in the midland and south-west regions (-1.4 per cent). The number of females also decreased in all regions in the month, with largest and smallest decrease in the Border region (-8.3 per cent) and Dublin region (-5.4 per cent), respectively.
On a county basis, the biggest percentage drop for last month was in Mayo (-6.9 per cent), while the smallest percentage decrease was in Laois (-2.3 per cent). Outside Dublin (103,079) and Cork (45,563), Galway Social Welfare offices (24,206) had the most people on the Register last month, followed by Limerick (21,188). Leitrim had the lowest numbers claiming benefits, at just over 3,500, followed by Roscommon (3,758). In Dublin, Tallaght and Clondalkin Social Welfare offices headed the statistics, with over 9,600 claimants in each case last month.
In September, there were 345,158 Irish nationals and 78,481 non-Irish nationals on the Live Register, in what was a monthly decrease of 14,594 (-4.1 per cent) in Irish nationals and a decrease of 1,823 (-2.3 per cent) in non-Irish nationals. In the year to September 2009 the number of Irish nationals on the Live Register rose by 146,155, while the annual increase for non-Irish nationals was 37,267. A number of Social Welfare offices have seen the numbers claiming benefit double between September 2008 and last month, including Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin (3,768 to 7,912) and Maynooth, Co Kildare, (2,763 to 6,185).
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment, as it includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers entitled to jobseekers’ benefit or allowance. Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey. The most recent figure for April to June 2009, is 264,600 persons unemployed.
ARTICLE - The Irish Times
