Number of people claiming dole up 82.9% in past year

IN the past year the number of people claiming unemployment benefit increased by 197,495 to 435,735, or up 82.9%.

The unadjusted live register at the end of July rose from 418,592 in June, a jump in just one month of 4.1%.

Kildare, Meath and Wicklow have seen an increase of almost 100% while Dublin represents almost one quarter, 24%, of the national live register followed by the south- west, 14%; border counties, 14%; south-east, 13%; mid-east, 10%; mid-west and west, 9% and the midlands, 7%.

While all regions showed annual increases, the mid-east region, which includes Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, at 99% was the largest jump.

The number of men claiming benefit has increased in all parts of the country. The largest percentage increase of males on the register was in the south-west region – Cork City, Cork County and Kerry – which recorded a rise of 2.9%.

The number of women increased in all regions, with the west region of Galway City, Galway County, Mayo and Roscommon showing the largest percentage increase at 9%.

In almost all cases the number of people in the over 25-year age bracket were the majority.

In July 2009 there were 354,949 Irish nationals and 80,786 non-Irish nationals signing on. This represented a monthly increase of 17,302, or 5.1%, in Irish nationals and a decrease of 159, or -0.2%, in non-Irish nationals.

In comparison with last July the number of Irish nationals on the register increased by 155,173, with a corresponding annual increase for non-Irish nationals of 42,322.

Among non-Irish nationals the largest number on the register were people from the EU accession states, 43,548.

Non-Irish nationals represented 18.5% of all persons on the register in July. Estimates from the Quarterly National Household Survey, January to March 2009, show that non-Irish nationals represented an estimated 15.6% of all persons in the labour force aged between 17 and 65.