The number of people on the Live Register in Clare has jumped by 36 percent in the past year.
More than 5,300 people signed on at social welfare offices across the county last month.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office show 5,342 people across the county received some form of unemployment benefit in January.
That’s a jump of more than 1,400 people in the last year alone, and the highest January figure here since 2018.
Just under half of those on the Live Register in Clare last month signed on in Ennis, with more than 1,300 people lining the queues at Ennistymon’s social welfare office.
More than 800 people received some form of unemployment benefit in Kilrush, with the figure breaking the 600 mark in Tulla.
More than 10 percent of those signing on in Clare are under 25 years of age.
There are more people on the Live Register in Clare as of the end of last month than in Limerick City, Galway City or Dublin County.
