Unemployment rate plummets

THE NUMBER of people on unemployment benefit in County Wexford is at its lowest rate in several years.

In October 12,543 people were in receipt of money from unemployment payments from the Department of Social Protection in the county, compared to 19,490 individuals in January 2011.

The figures for people out of work in the county have been falling steadily since July when 14,125 people were unemployed.

In August 13,849 were on the Live Register, compared to 12,753 people in September.

The peak month for unemployment in the county in 2016 was January when 14,463 people were unemployed.

856 men aged between 18 and 25 were out of work in County Wexford last month and there were 713 unemployed women in this age bracket unemployed.

6,262 men aged over 25 were out of work and 4,712 women, making a total of 12,543 people unemployed here.

In total 7,118 men and 5,425 women were out of work in County Wexford in October 2016, compared to 14,415 in October 2015.

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar said the South East region is the best performing nationally in reducing jobless figures, far better than Dublin.

Minister Varadkar said there has been around a 11 per cent decrease in unemployment in the region since last year. He said 10,700 more people are in employment in the South East than at the beginning of 2016. The economic crash had disastrous consequences for job numbers in the South East with the loss of over 37,000 jobs, TD Paul Kehoe said.

Many of the new jobs created this year across the region were in the hotel and construction and trades industries.