80% hike in Athlone dole figures over 12 month

Some 2,720 people now line the dole queues in Athlone, a massive 80% hike in just twelve months according to the latest Live Register figures. Effectively, this means over three people per day joined the jobless figures in the town since December 2007, a startling revelation that lays bare the extent of the local economic downturn over the last year. 1,510 Athlonians were out of work back in December last year but that level has steadily climbed over the intervening months to break the 2,462 mark in November. Then over just one month 258 lost their jobs bringing the December 2008 figure to 2,720. It means an extra 1,210 people were added to the living register during 2008. Worryingly, if the current trend continues Athlone"s jobless total could exceed the 3,500 mark in the next quarter. December"s Live Register figures brought universally bad news for every labour exchange in Westmeath, all of which showed an upward swing in the recently published monthly and yearly statistics.. Mullingar recorded a jump of 66% over the twelve month period to 3,516. However, this percentage rise is overwhelmed by the 121% rise in people out of work since December last year in Castlepollard. The Lake County unemployment total is now at 7,284, the highest in the midlands and more than the entire counties of Waterford, Meath Louth and South Tipperary and Mayo among others. Countywide the figures are also almost on parity with the Athlone situation recording a 78% jump since last December Nationally, the increase in Live Register figures over the last twelve months were the highest on record with a 71% rise or in real terms 120,000 people over the course of the year. The figures show the numbers on the dole rose by almost 23,000 in December alone, the largest monthly increase in unemployment on record. It brought the unemployment total to 291,363 giving Ireland an out of work rate of 8.3% , significant jump from 4.9% last January.