Over 36,000 jobs created in western region since 2016

THE Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, has confirmed that 36,900 jobs have been created in the western region since 2016.

The latest Labour Force Survey published by the Central Statistics Office shows that there are 2,327,000 people at work in Ireland today.

Minister Ring said: “The new figures show that there are 219,800 people at work in the west region which comprises Mayo, Galway and Roscommon. This is a 20% increase since 2016 or 36,900 jobs.”

Further Central Statistics Office figures indicate that the Live Register in Mayo for October 2019 has declined by 567 people in the last year.

Since this government was formed in 2016 there are 3,172 less people on the live register in Mayo.

“The latest data shows that there are more than 53,000 more people at work since this time last year, with 1,000 jobs being created a week.

"There are over 2.3m people a week at work – surpassing the peak of 2007 by 74,700 jobs.

“The unemployment rate has dropped to 4.9%. The jobs recovery has been regionally balanced – with over 162,000 new jobs created outside of Dublin since the beginning of 2016. This accounts for over six out of every 10 new jobs.

“There is no room for complacency about the progress we have made. This is why the Fine Gael-led ghovernment has developed Future Jobs Ireland, a whole-of-government plan to secure Ireland’s economic success.

“That is why we have signed the National Broadband Plan contract. With high speed broadband, we will ensure that 1.1 million people, almost a quarter of our population, will not be left behind.

“It will now be possible for rural Ireland to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented by the digital economy and it makes remote working possible.

"The strategy is about responding to the changing world of work ensuring that our economy is future-proofed.”