COUNTIES MEATH, Leitrim and Laois recorded the largest proportionate increases in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the past year, with take-up in Laois rising by more than twice the national average, Central Statistics Office figures show.
During the year to April there has been an unadjusted increase of 41,279 joining the Live Register, a rise of 26.7 per cent. The lowest increase over that period was the 19 per cent recorded in Dublin, while the largest was the 37.1 per cent increase in the midlands.
Although all counties saw a rise in the number of people signing on, there were significant regional variations. Some 18 counties showed above-average increases, with Laois seeing the largest jump of 59.4 per cent, followed by Leitrim (47 per cent), Meath (46.4 per cent) and Carlow (42.3 per cent). After the capital, the lowest proportionate rises were in Donegal (21.1 per cent), north Tipperary (21.2 per cent), Louth and Waterford (both 23.3 per cent).
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It shows principally the number of benefit claimants. However, movements in the numbers on the register provide a useful insight into short-term trends in unemployment.
A breakdown by local registration office reveals that the largest single increase (79.7 per cent) was reported in Clones, Co Monaghan, although the number of people signing on there in April last year - 197 - was one of the lowest in the State. Other offices reporting the highest proportionate increases were Portlaoise, Co Laois (70.4 per cent); Macroom, Co Cork (58.7 per cent); Portarlington, Co Laois and Trim, Co Meath (both 55 per cent).
The lowest annual increase was reported in Ballymun in Dublin, where just 56 more people signed on last month than in April 2007, a rise of 3.6 per cent. After that, the three smallest increases were all observed at offices in Co Donegal, specifically Killybegs (4.5 per cent), Dungloe (5.8 per cent) and Donegal town (9 per cent).
Live Register unemployment, on a seasonally adjusted basis, declined by 200 to 199,700 in April, having risen by 12,000 during March. The unemployment rate remained unchanged from March at 5.5 per cent.
However, the State training agency Fás pointed out that when the effect of an early Easter on the Live Register total is discounted, the latest figures pointed to an underlying increase of 5,000 in the month of April. "More generally, the numbers signing on have increased by 41,000 in the last 12 months with the majority of this increase - 28,100 - coming since the start of this year," it added.
Commenting on the figures yesterday, Fine Gael's enterprise spokesman, Leo Varadkar, said the extent and scale of job losses across the country dispelled "the Government myth that job losses are primarily due to the construction crash".
"Rather we see a pattern consistent with an economy moving into recession with significant job losses in all sectors of the economy and all parts of the country," he said.
Mr Varadkar predicted that the unemployment rate would break 6 per cent before the end of the year, its highest level in a decade.
