Sharp rise in men seeking benefits

INCREASING numbers of men are signing on for unemployment benefits and presenting as part-time workers, new figures reveal.

Analysis of the Government’s Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) live register figures for April show the number of men signing on as jobless or working up to three days a week has increased by 44.2% in the past 12 months.

April’s figures put 127,865 men on the register, an increase of 28,412 or 44.2% in the past six months.