The number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment has fallen to just over 267,000 – a decrease of almost 18,000 over the last seven days.
The drop in claims reflects the continued reopening of the economy, with 24,000 people closing their PUP accounts last week to return to work.
Including this week’s payments of €78.9 million, the Department said it has paid out over €8 billion in PUP to date.
Today’s figures show that Dublin is the county with the highest number of people receiving the PUP this week at 93,036, followed by Cork at 25,242 and Galway at 14,683.
The sector with the highest number of people receiving the payment this week is the accommodation and food service sector with 77,380.
However, this sector has also seen the largest decrease, with a drop of 7,407 compared to last week.
In addition to the 267,000 receiving the PUP, a further 171,699 people were recorded on the Live Register at the end of May.
“There are now over 214,000 fewer people being supported by the PUP compared to the second week of February,” said Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys.
Minister Humphreys said they expect further falls in the overall PUP numbers in the weeks ahead.
The Department is reminding those who are returning to work to close their claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment on the actual date that they start back at work, in order to ensure that their claim is processed correctly and to avoid incurring an overpayment – which the Department said it will take steps to recover.
Article Source – Numbers claiming PUP down almost 18,000 on last week – RTE – Gill Stedman