Fine Gael Mayo TD John O’Mahony has this week welcomed a 6.2 per cent drop in the number of people on the Live Register in Mayo over the last 12 months. Deputy O’Mahony was speaking following the publication of figures by the Central Statistics Office, which show that, nationally, the Live Register has now dropped for the last 18 months in a row.
He said, “These figures clearly show that a positive downward trend has been established in the number of people signing on the Live Register in Mayo over the last 12 months. There was a 6.2 per cent drop in the number of people on the Live Register in Mayo in December 2013, compared with a year earlier. Nationally, the number of people on the Live Register has dropped for the 18th month in a row, and is now at its lowest level for four and a half years. We know that this is due to new jobs being created in the real economy, with 58,000 more people joining the workforce over the last 12 months. We must build on this progress in the year ahead.”
He added: “Unemployment is on a downward trajectory in Mayo, which is very encouraging. But the Government fully recognises that unemployment rates remain far too high and that we have a long way to go. We will continue to work in the year ahead to get key areas – such as retail, construction and domestic banking – back to sustainable levels. Through the Action Plan for Jobs, led by Minister Richard Bruton TD, we have the first cross-government approach to job creation. This year’s Action Plan will be published by the Government in the coming weeks, and I am confident that it will contain a further suite of measures to help small businesses in Mayo to grow, and to give the county the best possible chance of attracting inward investment.”
