Unemployment rises as Clinton Cards closes

UNEMPLOYMENT across the district has risen by almost 10 per cent since last year.

The news comes in the same week as the administrator’s of Clinton Cards revealed they will shut their Banbridge store as part of a closure programme of the company’s remaining 76 shops.

The store employed seven people, all of whom will lose their jobs on July 31.

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Peter Saville, a partner at administrators Zolfo Cooper said, “It is with regret that we have had to take the decision to close the remaining stores. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the employees of the former Clinton Cards business we have worked with during the administration period for their professionalism and dedication and to wish them well for the future.”

There are 1,280 claiming the dole in Banbridge, 111 more people than this time last year. Almost 400 people aged 24 and under were signing on in the district in June this year.

Jobless figures across Northern Ireland have risen only slightly on last year, but Banbridge has seen the fourth highest rise, coming in with a bigger increase than Belfast.