Cork’s Live Register total at its lowest level in more than a decade
FIRST TIME COMBINED NORTH AND MID-CORK TOTAL DROPS BELOW 4,000-MARK SINCE 2008
FIGURES released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have shown the number of people on the Live Register across County Cork was at its lowest February level for more than a decade.
The latest report has shown that the number people ‘signing on’ the register at social welfare offices across the county at the close of last month stood at 16,198. This was the first time the figure dropped below the 18,000-mark since 2007, when it stood at 15,543.
The following year that figure increased to 18,376, a clear indication that the demise of the so-called ‘Celtic Tiger’ had already began in earnest.
The 12-month period from February 2008 saw the figure jump significantly to 34,089, with the monthly totals continuing on their upward trajectory for the following two years, finally peaking at 45,417 in 2011.
The following year, the first shoots of economic recovery began to flourish, something reflected in the February Live Register figure which saw a slight drop to 43,849, a trend that has continued with each consecutive year.
Over recent years, that decline became more marked, with the figure for last month down by more than 4,500 when compared to 12 months earlier.
That steady fall was reflected across the north and mid- Cork region, with the combined February 2019 total for the social welfare offices in Mallow, Fermoy, Newmarket and Macroom standing at 3,382.
This was the first time the monthly figure had dropped bellow 4,000 since 2008, when the combined totals for the four offices stood at 3,438. That represented an increase of 806 on the figure for the previous year.
The 12-month period from February 2008 saw the figure more than double to 7,006, with the monthly totals continuing to spiral over the following two years, peaking at 9,340 in 2011.
Since then, as with the Cork County figure, that number has