The number of people on Clare’s Live Register has dropped by more than ten per cent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.
New CSO data shows that more than 4,800 people in this county were in dole queues as of last month.
Current live register numbers don’t take into account those availing of specialised COVID-19 supports, including the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
There were 4,861 people throughout Clare on the live register in March – more than half of those were signing on in Ennis, which has 328 people less coming to its social welfare office for support now than this time last year.
A further 1,500 people were in the dole queues in North and West Clare combined, which has seen its numbers remain steady over the last number of months.
Tulla’s social welfare office saw 631 claimants in March – a number that’s also remained static since the beginning of the pandemic.
However, leaving aside the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak, Clare’s live register number remains almost five percent higher than the same month in 2019.
More than 10,700 people were claiming the PUP in this county at the end of last month – meaning over 15,500 people are now claiming some form of unemployment benefit in Clare.
