The number of people claiming some form of unemployment benefit in Clare has jumped by almost 4% in the space of a month.
The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show were more than 4,400 people on the Live register in this county in July.
The latest CSO figures show there were 4,438 people claiming some form of unemployment benefit in the county last month, a rise of 195 on June’s figure.
All areas of the county, with the exception of North Clare, saw increased dole queues, with the county capital seeing the highest numbers.
2,257 people sought financial assistance in the greater Ennis area in July, up from 2,101 the previous month.
In the west of the county, numbers climbed by 25 to 710 and in East Clare, the final number for last month was 598, up from 554 in June.
In North Clare, where traditionally additional seasonal jobs come on stream during the tourist season, there was a 3% reduction in the numbers claiming unemployment benefit to 873.
The number of young people signing on across the county has risen by 7% to 465, with 20 additional people under the age of 25 in the Ennis area now on the live register, 9 in West Clare and 5 in East Clare.
Despite the rising overall figure for the county, the picture isn’t altogether bleak though, as the total number of adults on the Live register in Clare remains 10% lower than the same time last year.
