This article is from page 4 of the 2008-11-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
WITH a very ill wind being one that blows no good, the rise in unemploy- ment has in turn created the need for more staff in the dole offices.
Four new staff are being allocated to the Ennis office of the Depart- ment of Social and Family Affairs to assist job seekers and those sign- ing on.
Ennis is one of 48 local offices countrywide which will get a total of 115 additional staff, a spokesman for the department confirmed.
The number of people signing on in Clare has climbed by 57 per cent in the last year.
According to CSO figures, the number of people signing on in Clare has gone up by more than 2,000.
Ennis saw a rise of 52 per cent, with jobless numbers going from 2,426 to 3,705 last month.
Ennistymon had a jump of 6/7 per cent in unemployment figures, from 600 to 1,005 in the last twelve months.
In Kilrush there was a 46 per cent increase with 859 people now sign-
ing on there in comparison to 586 in October last year.
But the largest increase was in east Clare where there was an increase last month of 80 per cent in the num- bers of people signing on, bringing the jobless total in the area covered by that office to 859.
The total number of people now claiming either Jobseekers benefit or allowance in Clare has risen to OR PAee
As well as allocating extra staff to local offices, the department has also extended temporary staff contracts
and allocated additional overtime to try to beat the back-log of benefit and allowance applications which have to be processed as additional people come into the system.
One of the largest sector increases among those joining the dole queues is in the building trade, where the market for new homes has all but collapsed and major building projects are being shelved for lack of funding.
The CIF has warned that up to 4,000 jobs could go in the mid-west before the downturn bottoms out.