The mid-east counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow recorded the highest proportionate increases in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the past year, Central Statistics Office figures show.
During the year to May, there has been an unadjusted increase of 195, 115 joining the Live Register, a rise of 96.7 per cent.
The CSO said all regions showed significant annual increases with the largest percentage rise recorded in the mid-east region which saw the numbers signing on jump 117.6 per cent.
The south-east region had the smallest percentage rise but that still amounted to an 83.2 per cent increase.
The unadjusted Live Register increased to 396,871 in May from 384,448 in April, a
monthly increase of 12,423 or 3.2 per cent.
Limerick had the largest monthly rise of all counties, recording a 7.1 per cent increase while Kerry performed best with a decrease of 1.3 per cent.
The number of males joining the register rose in all regions over the month with the largest rise recorded in the mid-west (4.7 per cent) and the smallest in the midlands (2.2 per cent).
The largest percentage rise in females signing on was recorded in the south east at 5.9 per cent, while the smallest percentage increase was in the south-west region at 1.8 per cent.
In May, there were 317,794 Irish nationals and 79,077 non-Irish nationals on
the Live Register. This represents a monthly increase of 11,196 or 3.7 per cent in Irish
nationals and 1,227 or 1.6 per cent in non-Irish nationals.
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