A West Clare Councillor is giving a cautious welcome to the drop in live register figures in September.
614 left the dole queues last month, 58 of those in the West of the county.
The latest figures from the CSO show that over 600 people left the dole queues in the Clare in September, bringing to 7,309 the number of people claiming some form of unemployment assistance here.
The largest fall in figures came in Ennis where 391 left the live register last month while 71 of those were in North Clare, 58 in the West of the county and 94 in East Clare.
Deputy Mayor Of Clare and Ennis Councillor Mary Howard says the drop in figures proves that the knock-on effect of the growing economy is being felt across the country.
And she says there needs to be a continued focus on growth within smaller businesses in the county town.
But Kilrush Councillor Ian Lynch fears the drop is mainly due to seasonal factors.
He belives that an investment plan now needs to be put in place to ensure sustainable jobs for West Clare communities.
Community Activist Dermot Hayes says the Government needs to looks at new ways of creating jobs as he says there can't be a dependance on entrepreneurship alone.
