Another drop in Galway’s jobless figures

The number of people ‘signing on’ in Galway city and county has fallen again – by almost 12% compared to this time last year.

But one Galway TD has pointed out that, in some parts of the county, there are still three times as many people out of work as there was during the height of the Celtic Tiger boom.

“It’s great that the number of people out of work is coming down, but there is no way that the Government should become complacent . . . there are still so many families hurting,” Galway West Independent TD Noel Grealish said.

“We are still way behind the kind of employment we had before the economic collapse and nobody should think that everything is rosy in the garden again.”

Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that there were 18,017 people on the Live Register in County Galway at the end of February, a drop of 2,382, or 11.7% on February 2014. The biggest drop was recorded in the Loughrea area, a whopping 15.2% reduction, with 340 fewer people on the Live Register compared to a year ago.

The CSO figures for the end of February show the following totals for Galway: Galway City 8,936 (-11.6%); Tuam 2,723 (-10.7%); Ballinasloe 2,122 (-10.9%); Loughrea 1,900 (-15.2%); Gort 1.225 (-12.7%); and Clifden 1,111 (-8.6%)

Of the total number on the Live Register in County Galway as a whole, 10,696, or just under 60%, are male and 7,321 are female. The vast majority (87%) are aged over 25.

The figures show that the number of males dropped by 14% since this time last year while the fall in the number of females out of work was less dramatic, at 8%.

But Deputy Noel Grealish stressed that while it has been mostly good news in recent times with regard to employment, the fact remains that the numbers are still way higher than they were in the good times seven years ago.

His research shows that there are twice as many on the Live Register in County Galway today compared with the total for February 2006.

And in the Loughrea area, the difference is particularly stark, with almost three times as many people ‘signing on’ now, while in the Gort and Tuam areas the totals are two and a half times greater now.

The comparative figures are: Galway County up from 8,835 seven years ago to 18,017 now (a 104% rise); Loughrea up from 852 to 1,900 (up 191%); Gort up from 468 to 1,225 (162% increase); Tuam up from 1,056 to 2,723 (rise of 158%); Ballinasloe up from 885 to 2,122 (up 140%); Galway City up from 4,994 to 8,936 (a 79% increase); and Clifden up from 780 to 1,111 (rise of 42%).

“It’s easy to get the impression from the headline figures that everything is good again with regard to employment but these figures show that we have an awful lot of catching up to do still.

“The bottom line is that in County Galway, there are 9,000-plus people more on the live Register now than there was in 2006. That’s a shocking statistic and the Government needs to do more to encourage growth,” added Deputy Grealish.