This article is from page 1 of the 2010-02-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
THE NUMBER of people sign- ing on the live register in Clare last month is up a massive 2,336 on this time last year.
The latest breakdown of figures on a county-by-county basis from the Central Statistics Office shows that the numbers signing on jumped to 10,818 in Clare during January.
This is an increase of 414 on the numbers who were claiming dole in December.
The biggest increase was in Ennis, where the number signing on jumped from 10,404 in December to 10,818 in January.
The latest figures come as business agencies warn that action is needed if more jobs are not to go in the mid- west region.
New jobs in the mid-west will come from the existing base of mul- tinational companies in the region according to Bill Doherty, Chairman of the American Chamber Mid West Keres (OE
The focus of agencies such as Shannon Development and IDA Ire- land and local government should be on creating the environment which will allow companies in the region to flourish, he said.
‘The mid-west region has a higher proportion of its workforce employed in the manufacturing and industrial sector than any other region. The IDA Ireland client base in the mid- west employs in the region of 8,000 people. While it is absolutely true that Ireland must seek to become a smart economy and support knowl- edge based businesses, it must be acknowledged that core manufactur- ing is the foundation stone on which many additional investments are built,” said Mr Doherty.