An additional 610 people signed on the live register in January of this year bringing the total unemployed in Mayo to 13,346, 3,444 up on the same time last year.
Figures released this week by the Central Statistics Office show that out of the 13,346 signing on the majority are male (8,934 ), and in both sex categories those over 25 years were the largest age bracket who are signing on.
Castlebar was the town which saw the largest increase, with an extra 189 people signing on last month, bringing the number of unemployed in the county town to 2,387. This was followed by 110 in Ballina (3,283 ), and 100 more in Westport (1,868 ). Achill was the only town which saw a decrease on the live register as it dropped three to 478.
The three towns which have seen a significant increase from January 2009 to January 2010 are Ballina, Castlebar, and Westport.
Castlebar town Councillor Harry Barrett is particularity concerned with the fact “that so many young people are out of work, with nearly 500 young people under 25 years old now unemployed in Castlebar.” The Labour councillor said that these statistics “prove that the Government is adrift of what needs to be done to improve the situation regarding jobs.”
