Midlands unemployment rate is higher than national average

In counties Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and Longford, nearly one in five people aged fifteen or older is unemployed. And the jobless rate in these Midland counties (18.1%) is significantly higher than the national average of 14.7%. Indeed, the South-East of the country (Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford) is the only region with a higher unemployment rate (19.7%). These findings were revealed in the quarterly national household survey, which was published by the Central Statistics Office last week. While statistics for Offaly alone were not included in the survey, it does reveal that the total labour force in the four Midlands counties grew by 3,300 people over the last twelve months. As a result, the number of people employed in the region increased by 700 since the same period last year, but the unemployment rate also jumped, from 16.4% to 18.1%. During the first three months of 2012 there was a total workforce of 124,900 in Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and Longford. Of these, 102,300 were in employment, while 22,700 were unemployed. The rate of unemployment in the region peaked between July and September last, when 23,100 (or 19% of the labour force) were not working. Nationally, employment fell by 1%, or 18,100 people, in the year to the first quarter of 2012, bringing the total number of people working to 1,786,100. The CSO figures state that some 309,000 people are now out of work.