Galway City jobless below 9,000 for first time in six years

The number of jobless people signing on the Live Register in Galway City has dropped below 9,000 – its lowest level in almost six years.

The significant drop recorded last month was over 13% lower compared to the same period last year – with 1,347 fewer people in receipt of unemployment benefits.

It was a drop of 445 – or 4.7% – on the September figure.

The number of people signing on in the city according to the Central Statistics Office is 8,943, the lowest figures since December 2008. Of these, 5,377 are male and 3,566 are female and just over 1,100 of them are aged under 25.

Galway City is faring the best when it comes to the unemployment stakes, recording the largest fall of any city in the country.

Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford all dropped by between 9 and 11% compared to October 2013.

The downward trend in Galway City is replicated around the county, with a more than 11% overall decline. Loughrea had the biggest fall, dropping 13.4% to 2,334, followed by Gort at -9.2% (1,412), Tuam at -9% (3021), Clifden at -8.7% (1,056) and Ballinasloe at -6.8% (2,312).

The official number of claimants across the country is now at 358,630, an annual decrease of 37,882 or 9.6 %. The CSO said the standardised unemployment rate is now 11%.

Galway City reached an unemployment high in August 2009, when the figure hit 13,734, and the lowest figure from the past decade was recorded in November 2004, when it was just 4,627.

Welcoming the reduction in numbers on the Live Register in Galway, Fine Gael TD Sean Kyne said: “There is no doubt that this figure remains too high but it is very encouraging to see that things are moving in the right direction.”

He added: “Live Register figures have been dropping for many months now, the Government’s plan is working. The progress that has been made is due to the hard work and sacrifice of Irish people, of people in communities across Galway.”

Read more in this week’s Connacht Sentinel