The Shannonside region has seen a significant increase in the number of people accessing unemployment payments over the last year.
Close to 7,900 people are currently on the live register in Leitrim, Longford and Roscommon, an increase of 1,268 on January 2022.
County Leitrim saw the largest increase over the year with 483 more people on the live register then the same point last year. This includes 1,375 people in the Carrick on Shannon region. Roscommon saw the next largest increase in people signing on, with 2,119 people receiving the support, up over 300 on January 2022. Castlerea has the largest amount locally with Roscommon and Boyle Social Welfare Offices reporting the next highest figures respectively. 2,181 people in Longford are signed on as of the end of January, compared to 2,014 registered for jobseekers at the start of last year.
Meanwhile, 1,777 people were signed on in Athlone last month, up from 1,447 in 2022.
Nationally, the CSO currently reports that close to 185,000 people are on the live register this year, in comparison to 162,578 twelve months ago.
