Jobless figures continue their climb in Westmeath

There are almost as many people signing on the Live Register in Mullingar as were signing on in the entire country in the corresponding month from 2008, latest CSO figures have revealed.April"s Central Statistics Office(CSO) Live Register figures provided more bleak news for Westmeath residents with 9,218 people signing on compared to 4,770 in the same month last year.In Mullingar alone there were 4,493 people recorded on the Live Register, nearly as many as were recorded for the entire county in April 2008.The CSO are keen to point out that the figures do not accurately portray unemployment figures as they include part time and seasonal workers.However, the figures do act as a good barometer for the levels of unemployment around the county.Live register numbers in Mullingar have almost doubled since April 2008 when 2,461 people were signing on. That figure now stands at 4,493, the highest in the county.While Mullingar has the highest number of people signing on in the county, in Castlepollard town where the population was recorded as 1004 in the 2006 CSO census, there were 1,207 people signing on in April. In the corresponding month in 2008, there were 550 people on the Live Register in Castlepollard.Although there are more people signing on then actually recorded as living in the town, there is nothing untoward taking place as the Castlepollard office caters for people from the entire Castlepollard area which supports a large population.In Athlone the number of people signing on has exactly doubled. In April 08 there were 1,759 people on the Live Register. In April 09, the figure stands at 3,518 precisely twice the number as last year.Amongst counties, the largest percentage increase was in Kildare at 6.6 per cent, while the only percentage decrease was in Kerry where a 1 per cent reduction was recorded.