THERE were more than 4,000 fewer people signing on the dole in the Mid West in March with unemployment in the region continuing to drop, according to the latest live register figures.
The standard unemployment rate was 10 per cent – down from 10.1 per cent in February 2015. In the year to March, the number of male claimants in the mid-west fell by 2,975 while female claimants fell by 1,319.
Tradespeople remained the largest jobless group, despite the fact that the number in this category fell over the year to 69,759. The two smallest occupational groups claiming payments were the white-collar sector including professionals, management, technical staff, and administrators who accounted for 2.8 per cent and 4.4 per cent of the live register respectively.
