Unemployment rate is one of highest in Ireland

CENSUS 2016 RESULTS SHOW WEXFORD HAS THREE UNEMPLOYMENT BLACKSPOTS WRITES ESTHER HAYDEN

Wexford has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country according to the latest figures from Census 2016.

Last Thursday the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the fourth in the series of 13 publications from the Census.

This report focuses on the socio-economic aspects of the census such as employment, occupation and education, as well as health, disability and caring.

The figures show that Wexford has an unemployment rate of 16.6 per cent compared to the average unemployment rate of 12.9 per cent. Longford has the highest unemployment rate national of 19.6 per cent followed by Donegal, Carlow. Louth and Wexford.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown has the lowest rate of unemployment at 7. 4 per cent.

Nationally the average rate of unemployment fell by 6.1 per cent since 2011 from 19.0 per cent to 12.9 per cent.

An unemployment rate of 16.6 per cent for Wexford means that at the time of Census 2016 there were 11,478 unemployed.

Census 2016 uncovered three unemployment blackspots in Wexford which had an average unemployment rate of 31.1 per cent compared to the average county rate of 16.6 per cent.

These unemployment blackspots are: Enniscorthy Urban with a rate of 32.1 per cent; Rosbercon 30.8 per cent and Killincooly, Kilmuckridge with a rate of 27.2 per cent. The highest rate of unemployment in a blackspot nationwide was in St. John’s A in Limerick which had a rate of 58.3 per cent.

In April 2016, there were 69,237 persons in the labour force in County Wexford, an increase of 1,760 people of 2.6 per cent on 2011.

The labour force participation rate in the county was 59.3 per cent, compared to 61.4 per cent for the State overall. The male participation rate was 67.0 per cent while the female participation rate was 52.0 per cent compared to 67.8 per cent and 55.2 per cent respectively nationally.

In Leinster there are 1,305,102 in the labour force, an increase of 61,472 compared to 2011. This represents an increase of 4.9 per cent which is more than 2 per cent higher than the rate of growth in Wexford.

Significant differences existed in the distribution of social class across the country with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (55.9 per cent) containing the highest proportion of people classified to the combined classes of 1 and 2 while Longford (27.7 per cent), Monaghan (29.3 per cent) and Cavan (29.4 per cent) had the lowest rates.

At the county level, Monaghan (5.1 per cent) had the highest proportion of people classified to class 6 – Unskilled, followed by Wexford and Offaly, both at 4.8 per cent. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (1.5 per cent) and Fingal (2.8 per cent) had the lowest rates.

In Wexford 8,200 people are classes as professional workers while 38,100 are classed as managerial and technical. 27,200 workers are called as non manual while 24.900 are classed as skilled manual. 19,000 are classed as semi skilled and 7,200 are classed as semi-skilled.

25,200 of workers are classed as being in all other gainfully occupations and unknown.

Census 2016 saw an increase in the number of students aged 15 years and over since 2011 – up from 408,838 to 427,128, a rise of 4.5 per cent or 18,290.

Male students accounted for 53.9 per cent of this increase bringing their share of the student population to 49.4 per cent, up from 49.2 per cent in 2011.

During the previous census period of 2006 to 2011, the growth in the numbers of students was stronger, increasing by 59,242 or 16.9 per cent over the five years. Males accounted for 61.7 per cent of the increase.

In Wexford the number of students aged 15 years and over stood at 11,045, an increase of 7.2 per cent. Nationally, the number of students aged 15 and over increased by 4.5 per cent to 427,,128 over the five years.

The number of retired persons in County Wexford stood at 18,610 in April 2016, an increase of 19.9 per cent. Nationally, the number of retired persons increased by 19.2 per cent to 545,407.

In Census 2016, some 15.1 per cent of Wexford’s population indicated that they had a disability which was higher than the national average of 13.5 per cent.

Four per cent of Wexford residents provided regular unpaid personal help for a friend or family member, almost identical to the figure at the national level (4.1 per cent).

87 per cent of Wexford residents stated that their health was either good or very good, and this was identical to the national figure.

The census figures relate to the de facto population, i.e. the population recorded for each area represents the total of all persons present within its boundaries on the night of Sunday, 24 April 2016, together with all persons who arrived in that area on the morning of Monday, 25 April 2016, not having been enumerated elsewhere.

The results of the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) provide the basis for the official series of quarterly labour force estimates. The labour force and its constituent figures shown in the Summary Results Part 2 are directly based on the census. The labour force comprises persons aged 15 and over who are employed, looking for a first job, or unemployed. The percentage of people aged 15 and over who participate in the labour force - as opposed to having another status such as student, retired or homemaker - is known as the labour force participation rate.

It is measured as the number in the labour force (at work or unemployed) expressed as a percentage of the total population aged 15 and over. The information derived from identical questions in the census and QNHS for the same year may show appreciable differences.