Galway Bay fm newsroom - Almost two and half thousand employees in Galway have closed their pandemic unemployment payment this week to return to work - as retailers, restaurants and other services continue Christmas trading.
In the past seven days, over 46 thousand people closed their PUP claim nationwide, with over 40 thousand stating they were doing so to return to work.
The top sectors returning to employment this week are accommodation and food service activities, hairdressers and beauty salons and wholesale and retail trade.
Dublin has recorded the greatest number of people closing their claims at 10,295, followed by Cork with 5,037, and Galway with 2,395.
16,668 people are still claiming the support in Galway - that's down from over 19 thousand two hundred last week and over 32 thousand on May 5th.
This week, the Department of Social Protection has issued weekly payments valued at €90 million, down from €102 million last week.
