The number of unemployed women over 25 in Cork City has almost doubled in the space of one year. The rate of unemployment among women here between August 2008 and August 2009 has risen by 84 per cent compared to 70 per cent nationally. The figures have been described as "shocking" by Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry while Fine Gael Cllr Emmet O'Halloran said the situation was "grim" in the city.

The quarterly Cork Economic Monitor also revealed that in the same time period:
- There has been a 78 per cent increase in unemployment in Cork City compared to 76 per cent nationally;
- There are 5,220 people under the age of 25 unemployed in Cork;
- In September there were 26,532 people from Cork City on the live register;
- There are 14,500 men over 25 on the live register.

Fine Gael Cllr John Buttimer told a meeting of Cork City Council on Monday that: "We must find creative solutions to remedy the serious underlying faults with the Cork economy, the figures are astounding. We must try and re-skill people and businesses, the number of vacant retail units in the city is frightening."

Independent Cllr Chris O'Leary said the situation in Cork was extremely worrying: "The dole office is closing some days such is the demand for unemployment assistance, there is a 20 week wait for assessment to get the jobseeker's allowance. The Community Welfare Officers can't cope with the demand and we have seen increases in domestic violence, which is all related.

"We then have a government focused on bailing out the banks and very little resources given to creating employment. The report's figures may even be massaged, there is a lot of hidden poverty in the city," he said. Cllr O'Halloran said something needs to be done drastically to arrest the situation: "We are all feeling sorry for ourselves, people out there are looking for hope from us (councillors), they want to hear about ways to get out of this.

"We need to grab this by the scruff of the neck and get up off our asses. The potential is there, we need to be proactive and meet with employers and see what their plans are to create jobs."

Fianna Fail Cllr Sean Martin echoed those remarks and criticised both protestors and people heading north for shopping: "We are beating ourselves up and have failed to grasp the mettle about solving our problems. Protesting solves nothing; everybody needs to take the cuts. "I have a huge problem with people going to Northern Ireland for shopping, people in the city depend on your money, we need to look after our own here," he said.

Sinn Fein Cllr Jonathan O'Brien said that there should be no increase in commercial rates for 2010 in the city: "We have taken the easy way out before by increasing rates, we need to start doing more positive things to create jobs," he said.

City Manager Joe Gavin remarked that there were no plans to increase commercial rates: "You can take it for granted that there will be no increase in rates at the budget," he said.

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