THE NUMBER of people in Donegal receiving Pandemic Unemployment Payments (PUP) fell by another 3.4 per cent this week.
There are now 12,535 people in Donegal who are in receipt of PUP, a reduction from 12,983 the previous week.
At the height of the Covid-19 lockdown in May 2020, there were as many as 22,594 people in the county receiving PUP.
This week, the Department of Social Protection issued weekly payments valued at over €107 million to 363,167 people nationwide.
This represents a decrease of 13,498 people compared to last week.
The sector with the highest number of people receiving PUP this week is Accommodation and Food Service activities (96,404), followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (59,545) and Administrative and Support Service Activities (31,860).
The Construction sector has seen the largest decrease in the number of people receiving PUP this week with 3,081 fewer people receiving the payment compared to last week.
The past seven days saw 25,920 people close their PUP claim stating that they were doing so because they are returning to work. Dublin had the greatest number of people closing their claims to return to work (6,578), followed by Cork (2,987) and Galway (1,408).
In Donegal this week, 845 people closed their PUP payment to return to work.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said: “The slow and gradual re-opening of the economy is once again reflected in this week’s Pandemic Unemployment Payment figures.
“As the PUP is paid weekly in arrears, the full impact of the re-opening of sectors such as retail will not be evident for a number of weeks to come.
“However, all the indications are that people are returning to work in large numbers with almost 26,000 closing their PUP in the past week.
“I want to pay tribute to the thousands of employers across the country who have re-opened their businesses this week, ensuring that their staff and customers can return in a safe manner.”
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