Jobless numbers in Galway continue to slide

Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that there were 15,432 on the register at the end of May, compared with 17,347 twelve months ago.

That represents a fall of 11% in the county as a whole, with local variations ranging from a drop of almost 8% in the Gort area to a reduction of double that in the Loughrea area.

There was a slight increase, of more than 1%, in the numbers ‘signing on’ in Galway since April, but this is largely down to seasonal factors that affected the whole country.

The latest figures show a continuation of a trend of younger people finding employment faster than their older counterparts.

Throughout Galway City and County the numbers of people aged under 25 years who are registered as unemployed fell by more than a fifth, or 21.3%, since the end of May 2015.

Those aged 25 and over, however, showed a much lower level of decrease over the year, a fall of less than one-tenth, or 9.6%.

The contrast is even more stark among women, with those under 25 recording a 24.6% reduction in their numbers on the Live Register, compared with a fall of 7% among the older cohort.

While the overall reduction in the county of 1,915 people represented an 11% decrease, the fall was even greater in the middle of the county, with the Loughrea social welfare office enjoying a reduction of 16.1%, to the current total of 1,545.

Next biggest drop was in Tuam (2,256, down 12.9%), followed by Ballinasloe (1,802, down 11.4%), Clifden (800, down 10.5%), Galway City (7,979, down 9.8%) and Gort (1.050, down 7.9%).