Big drop in number of Kilkenny people claiming pandemic payment: report

The number of people in Kilkenny receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has dropped by more than 30% from the highest point of the pandemic, new data reveals.

According to the latest Labour market report by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), some 11,556 people in Kilkenny city and county were claiming the PUP last May.

However this figure has now dropped to 8,068, a reduction of 30.2%

Meanwhile, the latest Live Register figures also reveal less people are signing on in Kilkenny now than at the beginning of the Covid crisis in March last year.

When the pandemic hit a total of 3,254 people were in receipt of social welfare in the county. That figure is now down to just 2,947, a drop of 307 people, or just under 10%.