Live register figures continue decline

THE improving economy has seen an ongoing decline in the number of people signing on across Louth, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO)

The monthly report from the CSO revealed that there were 4,624 people claiming unemployment benefits in Dundalk at the end of April, which was a fall of 0.6% from the 4,654 who were on the live register in March.

Year-on-year the number on the live register in Dundalk is down 11.2% from the 5,209 who were listed on the live register in April 2016.

The number of people qualifying for unemployment payments in Dundalk now remains at its lowest in almost nine years. The property boom of the last decade saw an extremely low rate of dole claimants across Louth.

The latest CSO figures show that the live register numbers for across Louth also fell last month by 1.5% from 10,521 to 10,363.

This represented an annual decrease of 14.7% from the 12,142 who were on the Live Register in the county in April last year.

The number on the live register in Louth is now also at its lowest level in nearly nine years..

The number of people on the dole in Ardee and Drogheda also fell by 0.7% and 2.8% respectively to 1,237 and 4,502 by the end of last month, indicating a positive return to work for many.