Jobless in Galway down 12,000 since economic collapse

There are almost 12,000 fewer people on the Live Register in Galway today compared with the numbers ‘signing on’ at the height of the economic collapse.

Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that unemployment in Galway city and county continues to fall, with 13,544 on the Register at the end of May.

That represents a drop of 1,874, or more than 12%, on this time last year — and it’s the lowest figure since June 2008. It also shows a substantial reduction since the total hit a peak of 25,389 in August 2010.

Young men continue to be the biggest beneficiaries of the economic recovery, with a drop of 19% in the numbers of males aged under 25 on the Live Register in Galway since this time last year.

At the other end of the scale are women aged 25 and over, but a drop of 9.7% in their numbers over the past twelve months represents an improving rate of recovery.

There was a fall of 13.2% in the total number of females aged under 25 and a drop of 12.5% among men aged 25 and over.

Geographically, the biggest drop in numbers on the Live Register was in the city and surrounding area, where the total fell by more than 13%.

Latest figures for each social welfare area of Galway, with the difference since this time last year in brackets, are:
■             Galway County total 13,544 (-12.2%)
■             Galway City 6,905 (-13.4%)
■             Tuam 2,013 (-10.8%)
■             Ballinasloe 1,576 (-12.4%)
■             Loughrea 1,380 (-10.6%)
■             Gort 945 (-9.9%)
■             Clifden 725 (-9.4%)

The Galway figures show a slightly slower improvement than the rest of Ireland. Nationally, the total number of people on the Live Register at the end of May was 306,822, down by 14.4% since May 2016.

Among the major urban areas, the Galway City drop of 13.4% was matched by Dublin City and was ahead of Limerick’s 12.5% fall in numbers on the Live Register. However, it was surpassed by Cork (-17%) and Waterford (-14.3%).