Posted online: May 7th, 2009

Live Register figures are steadily climbing in Letterkenny and Ballybofey as unemployment grows in the two towns, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.
Ballybofey showed a shocking 118% increase from April of 2008 to April of 2009, with close to 1300 additional people signing on over that period. The number of people on the live register in Letterkenny increased by 72% over the last year. There were 4610 people on the live register in Letterkenny in April 2009 which represented an increase of 1928 people over the last year. There was an increase of over 70 people in the last month alone.
The increase is indicative of the overall trend in Donegal as more and more people are forced to claim social welfare benefits or allowances.
The numbers of people on the live register in Co Donegal went from 10,279 in April of 2008 to 18,383 in April in 2009, an increase of 8,104. In the last month alone, it has jumped by almost 400.
The new figures make for grim reading as the impact of the economic downturn hits home. The sharp increase in the numbers of people signing on is a reflection of the difficulties that many people are now facing.
The last year saw large numbers of people being made redundant in the county while employment opportunities have also become increasingly limited. The figures from the CSO show that the amount of people claiming benefits is rising all around the country.
Every region of the country showed an increase over the last year and the number of males also increased in every region. There was an overall increase of 97% in Ireland from April of last year to April of 2009.