The number of people claiming some form of unemployment benefit in Clare jumped by almost 300 last month.
New data from the Central Statistic Office shows dole queues in the county have steadily increased since the county hit a 24-year-low in May.
3,856 people were collecting some form of jobseeker’s benefit in the final week of July.
This represents an increase of 298 from the figure seen at the end of June, and is 359 more than May, when Clare recorded its fifth-lowest tally ever for unemployment.
1,993 of those claiming social welfare last month were women, marginally more than the 1,863 men in dole queues around the county.
Ennis once again saw the lion’s share of those collecting jobseeker’s benefit with 2,153 presenting in the county town, representing almost 56% of the county’s total.
Kilrush was the next busiest social welfare office with 636 presentations, while Tulla saw 542 in the dole queue and 525 collected social welfare in Ennistymon.
Of those who signed on at the end of last month, 466 were younger than 25, with the vast majority at 3,390 aged 25 or older.
