Unemployment figures have dropped in Westmeath during the early months of this year, the latest Live Register figures from the Central Statistics Office have revealed.
During March 2010, a total of 10,103 people signed on in Westmeath, a drop of 47 from the previous month when 10,150 people were claiming unemployment benefit.
The downward trend was repeated in just one of the county’s three local social welfare offices, with numbers dropping from 3,971 to 3,910 in Athlone.
Meanwhile in Castlepollard, the dole queues remained stable with 1,261 people signing on in both February and March, while Mullingar was the only local office to report an increase in the Live Register from 4,918 in February to 4,932 in March.
When the figures are compared with the previous year, a total of 5,266 more people signed on in March 2010 than in March 2009.
The majority of the unemployed Westmeath population are males (6,562 to 3,541 females ), with the vast majority over 25 years old.
The figures are similar across the Midlands, where 53 fewer people signed on in March 2010 than the previous month.
Nationally, the Live Register displayed a monthly decrease of 0.4 per cent from February to March. However, in the year to March 2010, the unadjusted Live Register increased by 17.9 per cent.
