Galway Bay fm newsroom - 20% of Galway workers received State income supports in November.
CSO figures published by the Irish Independent, show that counties on the west coast, where a large section of the workforce is employed in the service and hospitality industry, have been hit most severely by COVID-19 job losses.
20% of the workforce, nationwide, is now on benefits due to the pandemic.
More than 45 per cent of workers in Kerry were on State benefits during the last lockdown.
This was followed by Dublin, Louth, Wexford and Carlow which had more than 40 per cent of their labour force on income supports in November.
The counties with the lowest level of workers on supports were Roscommon, Laois, Meath, Kilkenny , Offaly and Cork with approximately 30 per cent reliant on benefits.
20 per cent of the workforce were unemployed during November – Kerry had the highest unemployment rate and Kilkenny the lowest.
