Dole numbers at lowest level in past seven years

The number of people on the Live Register in Galway is at its lowest point in seven years, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The statistics show that at the end of October, there were 15,677 people registered as unemployed in the city and county – that’s down by almost 40% from the high of 25,389 recorded in August 2010.

It’s also the lowest level recorded for Galway since November 2008, when there were 15,379 registered.

Year-on-year, the figures are down 13% (from 18,025), while month-on-month, the figures are down almost 4% from 16,311.

The Live Register drops are higher than the State averages of 10.5% over the past year and 3.6% month-on-month.

For Galway City, figures were at their lowest point since June 2008, at 7,849 – that’s down 1,094 (12.2%) in a year and 480 (5.7%) in a month.

The biggest yearly drops recorded in unemployment in the county were in Loughrea and Clifden at 15% and 14.6% respectively.

The CSO figures show that at the end of October, there were 1,644 unemployed in Loughrea (down 337 people), while the monthly drop was 78 people, or 4.5%.

In Clifden, there were 823 on the Live Register, down 141 from the previous year and 10 from the previous month.

Ballinasloe dropped from 2,154 to 1,847 (14.25%) year-on-year and 34 people (1.8%) month-on-month, while in Gort, the drop was almost 14% (from 1,282 to 1,103) over the year and 20 people (0.9%) in a month.

The figures show that Tuam’s Live Register dropped 12.2% from 2,748 to 2,411 over the year and 1.7% (42 people) in a month.

For comparison, Dublin County dropped 11% year-on-year from 86,721 to 77,160; Cork City down 11.5% from 14,763 to 13,060; Limerick City down 11.1% from 11,276 to 10,022 and Waterford City down 7.6% from 9,705 to 8,963.