There has been a rise in the number of people on the live register in Clare.
This is despite an 8.8 per cent drop in fugures nationally in the month of December.
There were 7,744 people claiming some form of unemployment benefit across the county December, a rise of 5 per cent since the end of the previous month.
The biggest increase was in Ennis, where an additional 153 people signed on, while a further 123 people joined the live register in North Clare.
In the East of the county, there was a rise of 36 and in West Clare , there was an increase of 37.
The figure bucks the national trend where an 8.8 per cent drop in the number of people seeking unemployment benefit across the country last month.
But despite this, the figures remain 8 per cent lower in Clare than the same time last year.
