Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Extra information
Methodology Previous Releases
International comparison:
Eurostat
See also:
YouTube Video
For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Sabrina Bowen (+353) 21 453 5151 Catalina Gonzalez (+353) 21 453 5163
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

August 2016

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
August 2015359,076340,700
July 2016319,294301,000
August 2016316,296299,200
   
Change in month-- 1,800
Change in year- 42,780-

Seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreases by 1,800 in August

Live Register Seasonally adjusted
go to full release

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1,800 (-0.6%) in August 2016, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 299,200. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 316,296 people signing on the Live Register in August 2016. This represents an annual decrease of 42,780 (-11.9%). See table 1(a).

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 2,000 (-1.1%) males in August 2016, while females increased by 200 (+0.2%) over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 29,761 (-14.3%) to 178,638 in the year to August 2016, while female claimants decreased by 13,019 (-8.6%) to 137,658.  This compares with a decrease of 29,663 (-12.5%) to 208,399 for males, while female claimants decreased by 9,586 (-6.0%) to 150,677 in the year to August 2015. See table 1(a).

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) has been discontinued and has been replaced by the Monthly Unemployment release which is available here.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) or Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA).  Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey.

 

0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
Aug 2014210727187598
Sep 2014191662178388
Oct 2014187738170892
Nov 2014186175166472
Dec 2015191316164796
Jan 2015193828164844
Feb 2015192348162776
Mar 2015188273160403
Apr 2015185063158488
May 2015183749161884
Jun 2015190032166488
Jul 2015198206165422
Aug 2015194807164269
Sep 2015175947156854
Oct 2015171191149603
Nov 2015169793146793
Dec 2015175442146174
Jan 2016176347145455
Feb 2016176245143478
Mar 2016174600141000
Apr 2016167563138222
May 2016166571140488
June 2016172051143832
July 2016177313141981
Aug 2016175950140346

 

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in August 2016 was 140,346.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 18,051 (-17.2%) in the year to August 2016, while females decreased by 5,872 (-9.9%), giving an overall annual decrease of 23,923 (-14.6%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 6 and figure 2.

In August 2016, 55.6% (175,950) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for August 2015 was 54.3% (194,807). The annual fall of 18,857 (-9.7%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 11,710 (-11.3%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 7,147 (-7.8%) in female short term claimants. See table 6.


Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 61,393 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in August 2016, which represents 19.4% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 18.8% one year earlier when there were 67,488 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to August 2016 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 6,095 (-9.0%), with the number of males decreasing by 3,619 (-10.1%) and the number of females decreasing by 2,476 (-7.8%). See table 7.

Under 25 years25 years and over
August 201461494336831
August 201549865309211
August 201639508276788

Live Register age groups

In the year to August 2016 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 32,423 (-10.5%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 10,357 (-20.8%).  Annual decreases in persons aged under 25 have occurred in all months since July 2010. The percentage of persons aged under 25 on the Live Register now stands at 12.5% for August 2016, down from 13.9% in August 2015 and 15.4% in August 2014. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and figure 3.

 

Live Register new registrants

There were 20,837 new registrants on the Live Register in August 2016, consisting of 7,499 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims, 12,266 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) claims and 1,072 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 52.5% (10,932) and females 47.5% (9,905) of all new registrants.  On average 2,733 male and 2,476 female new registrants joined the Live Register each week of the month.  The difference between the number of new registrants on the Live Register and the change in the total number on the Live Register is accounted for by closed claims and movements between schemes. See table 3.

 

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (17.3%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in August, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 10,846 (-16.5%) to 54,859.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Plant and machine operatives group, which decreased by 14.5%. The two smallest occupational groups in August were the Associate professional and technical and the Managers and administrators groups which accounted for 3.0% and 4.4% of the Live Register respectively. See table 5 and figure 4.

1 While the ‘No Occupation’ group is excluded from the analysis its subtotals are included in the relevant calculations presented in the text.

Broad Occupational GroupAugust 2014August 2015August 2016
1164251536214016
2255782359521895
311675102109498
4416963953237164
5769276570554859
6491154514439932
7445743911233962
8633335633048147
9462234237636837
10227792171019986
KEY  
1- Managers and administrators
2- Professional
3- Associate professional and technical
4- Clerical and secretarial
5- Craft and related
6- Personal and Protective service
7- Sales
8- Plant and machine operatives
9- Other occupation
10- No occupation

 

Live Register by other classifications

Other points which can be noted include:

  • An annual decrease of 36,884 (-13.5%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 236,823 in August 2016, while JB claimants decreased to 47,639 (-6.4%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 74.9% of all persons on the Live Register in August 2016 compared with 76.2% a year earlier. See table 1(a).
  • Annual decreases occurred in all of the eight NUTS 3 regions with the largest percentage decrease occurring in the South-West region (-14.1%) followed by the Mid-East region (-13.5%). See table 4.
  • In August, Irish nationals accounted for 83.6% (264,337) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 51,959 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (28,251), followed by the UK (11,727). See table 8.

 

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of July 2016 on the number of people availing of a range of programmes targeted primarily at the long-term unemployed (over 12 months) and other welfare recipients is provided in the Annex – Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes table.

There were 60,012 people availing of these programmes in July 2016, which is a decrease of 7,234 persons (-10.8%) from the previous year, when there were 67,246 people in activation programmes. 

Persons on activation programmes are not counted as part of the monthly Live Register.

Table 1(a) Total persons on the Live Register
CategoryAugust 2015July 2016August 2016Monthly changeAnnual change
     
Males  
    JB Claims21,70019,68419,377-307-2,323
    JA Applications174,875150,264148,748-1,516-26,127
    Other Registrants11,82410,58910,513-76-1,311
    Total208,399180,537178,638-1,899-29,761
     
Females     
    JB Claims29,17828,93128,262-669-916
    JA Applications98,83288,50788,075-432-10,757
    Other Registrants22,66721,31921,321+2-1,346
    Total150,677138,757137,658-1,099-13,019
     
All Persons     
    JB Claims50,87848,61547,639-976-3,239
    JA Applications273,707238,771236,823-1,948-36,884
    Other Registrants34,49131,90831,834-74-2,657
    Total359,076319,294316,296-2,998-42,780
      
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryAugust 2015July 2016August 2016Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims1,3481,1081,077-31-271
    JA Applications27,10721,41121,178-233-5,929
    Other Registrants10697102+5-4
    Total28,56122,61622,357-259-6,204
      
Females     
    JB Claims1,6481,3661,397+31-251
    JA Applications19,50515,77815,634-144-3,871
    Other Registrants151110120+10-31
    Total21,30417,25417,151-103-4,153
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims2,9962,4742,4740-522
    JA Applications46,61237,18936,812-377-9,800
    Other Registrants257207222+15-35
    Total49,86539,87039,508-362-10,357
      
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryAugust 2015July 2016August 2016Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims20,35218,57618,300-276-2,052
    JA Applications147,768128,853127,570-1,283-20,198
    Other Registrants11,71810,49210,411-81-1,307
    Total179,838157,921156,281-1,640-23,557
      
Females     
    JB Claims27,53027,56526,865-700-665
    JA Applications79,32772,72972,441-288-6,886
    Other Registrants22,51621,20921,201-8-1,315
    Total129,373121,503120,507-996-8,866
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims47,88246,14145,165-976-2,717
    JA Applications227,095201,582200,011-1,571-27,084
    Other Registrants34,23431,70131,612-89-2,622
    Total309,211279,424276,788-2,636-32,423
      
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2014August238,100160,300398,300 231,100147,700378,800
September224,800145,200370,100 227,800146,700374,500
 October217,800140,900358,600 225,100145,900371,000
 November214,700137,900352,600 222,600144,500367,100
 December216,300139,800356,100 219,800143,700363,400
 
2015January218,700140,000358,700 217,500142,600360,100
 February215,900139,200355,100 214,300141,600355,900
March212,000136,600348,700 211,800139,400351,200
 April208,300135,200343,600 210,000140,000350,000
 May208,700137,000345,600 207,800139,800347,600
 June211,400145,100356,500 206,200139,200345,400
 July210,300153,300363,600 204,100139,500343,600
 August208,400150,700359,100 202,300138,400340,700
 September197,500135,300332,800 200,200136,900337,100
 October189,700131,100320,800 196,300135,900332,200
 November188,200128,400316,600 195,100134,800329,900
 December191,200130,400321,600 194,000134,000328,000
2016January191,800130,000321,800 190,500132,700323,200
 February190,200129,500319,700 188,600131,800320,400
 March186,300129,300315,600 185,800131,200317,000
 April181,500124,300305,800183,100129,600312,700
 May181,300125,700307,100180,600128,500309,100
 June182,100133,800315,900177,800128,100305,900
July180,500138,800319,300175,500125,500301,000
 August178,600137,700316,300 173,500125,700299,200
1 Table contains revised figures.
Table 2(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2014August35,40026,10061,500 32,80022,80055,600
 September32,10023,00055,100 31,90022,30054,200
 October30,10021,10051,200 31,30021,80053,100
 November29,00019,90048,900 30,90021,50052,400
 December28,60019,30047,900 30,20021,10051,300
 
2015January29,30020,00049,300 29,70020,80050,600
 February28,80019,70048,500 29,00020,40049,400
 March28,00019,00047,100 28,50020,00048,500
 April27,30018,50045,900 28,10019,80047,900
 May27,80019,30047,100 27,60019,60047,200
 June28,80020,70049,500 27,30019,10046,400
 July28,80021,50050,300 26,80018,90045,800
 August28,60021,30049,900 26,40018,60045,000
 September26,30018,80045,200 26,10018,20044,400
 October24,10017,00041,100 25,20017,70042,800
 November23,30016,10039,400 24,90017,50042,300
 December23,20015,60038,700 24,50017,10041,600
2016January23,70016,10039,800 24,10016,80040,900
 February23,70016,10039,800 23,80016,60040,400
 March22,70015,60038,400 23,10016,30039,400
 April22,00014,90036,900 22,60016,00038,600
 May22,20015,50037,700 22,10015,70037,800
 June22,80016,80039,500 21,50015,50037,000
 July22,60017,30039,900 21,10015,20036,300
 August22,40017,20039,500 20,70014,90035,600
1 Table contains revised figures.
Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2014August202,600134,200336,800 198,300125,000323,200
September192,700122,200314,900 195,900124,500320,300
 October187,700119,800307,400 193,800124,100317,900
 November185,700118,000303,800 191,700123,000314,700
 December187,800120,400308,200 189,600122,500312,100
 
2015January189,300120,000309,400 187,700121,800309,500
 February187,100119,500306,600 185,300121,200306,500
March184,000117,600301,600 183,300119,400302,700
 April181,000116,700297,700 181,800120,300302,100
 May180,900117,600298,500 180,100120,200300,400
 June182,600124,400307,000 178,900120,200299,100
 July181,500131,900313,300 177,300120,600297,900
 August179,800129,400309,200 175,900119,800295,700
 September171,200116,400287,600 174,000118,700292,700
 October165,600114,100279,700 171,100118,300289,400
 November164,900112,300277,200 170,200117,400287,600
 December168,100114,800282,900 169,500116,900286,400
2016January168,000114,000282,000 166,500115,900282,400
 February166,600113,400279,900 164,800115,200280,000
 March163,600113,600277,200 162,600114,900277,500
April159,500109,300268,800160,500113,600274,100
May159,200110,200269,400158,500112,800271,300
June159,300117,000276,300156,200112,600268,900
July157,900121,500279,400154,400110,300264,700
August156,300120,500276,800152,900110,800263,600
1 Table contains revised figures.     
Table 3 Summary of flows1 on and off the Live Register
   Males Females
  Number of Weeks New Regis-trations Average Weekly Change  New Regis-trations Average Weekly Change
  Live RegisterOutflow (derived) Live RegisterOutflow (derived)
   
JB Claims           
2015August421,7003,6084,374-192 29,178     3,9946,085-523
 September419,4803,9456,165-555 21,441     4,23511,972-1,934
 October519,1625,2815,599-64 21,719     5,9725,694+56
 November419,6875,0164,491+131 20,993     5,7066,432-182
 December521,6065,3083,389+384 23,035     5,3393,297+408
 
2016January422,6706,8815,817+266 22,832     7,2787,481-51
 February422,7115,1115,070+10 22,839     5,6535,646+2
March521,8645,0285,875-169 23,6696,2915,461+166
April 420,3884,6216,097-369 20,7295,6218,561-735
May419,6753,6394,352-178 20,7444,4074,392+4
June519,6235,1175,169-10 25,1989,4344,980+891
 July419,6844,0864,025+15 28,9317,8834,150+933
August419,3773,4983,805-7728,2624,0014,670-167
           
JA Applications           
2015August4174,8758,0949,170-269 98,8325,7146,112-100
 September4166,5969,33817,617-2,070 92,1706,69613,358-1,666
 October5159,19810,86718,265-1,480 87,9057,44111,706-853
 November4157,2259,11311,086-493 86,1605,8147,559-436
 December5158,2918,2407,174+213 85,9144,6674,913-49
 
2016January4157,8778,9329,346-104 86,0006,0785,992+22
 February4156,4818,3469,742-349 85,5585,6166,058-111
March5153,4598,37111,393-604 84,5795,7936,772-196
April 4150,2617,28110,479-800 82,8124,9896,756-442
May4150,8856,9356,311+156 84,2745,0303,568+366
June5151,77610,0039,112+178 87,6158,6145,273+668
July4150,2647,4428,954-37888,5076,4895,597+223
August4148,7487,0888,604-37988,0755,1785,610-108
           
Other Registrants           
2015August411,824368413-11 22,667719895-44
 September411,471396749-88 21,6438071,831-256
 October511,307579743-33 21,5031,1051,245-28
 November411,242456521-16 21,2799351,159-56
 December511,322498418+16 21,448840671+34
 
2016January411,209499612-28 21,2149241,158-59
 February411,056368521-38 21,078795931-34
March511,007475524-10 21,022918974-11
April 410,863340484-36 20,7328191,109-73
May410,775314402-22 20,706622648-7
June510,678468565-19 20,9931,250963+57
July410,589428517-2221,3191,134808+82
August410,513346422-1921,321726724+1
1 Flow analysis: inflows and outflows published in this table do not take account of inter-scheme activity within the Live Register. For example,
if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim this is counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA. 
Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1August 2015July 2016August 2016Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western64,77756,49755,869-628-8,9087,30148,568
      Border29,65625,75225,514-238-4,1423,37622,138
      Midland16,49314,62414,419-205-2,0742,02412,395
      West18,62816,12115,936-185-2,6921,90114,035
        
      Southern and Eastern143,622124,040122,769-1,271-20,85315,056107,713
      Dublin52,05145,71445,206-508-6,8455,46039,746
      Mid-East19,74016,58816,412-176-3,3282,11414,298
      Mid-West17,08415,09915,053-46-2,0311,98713,066
      South-East27,87824,12023,786-334-4,0923,10620,680
      South-West26,86922,51922,312-207-4,5572,38919,923
      Total208,399180,537178,638-1,899-29,76122,357156,281
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western48,79044,86044,530-330-4,2605,89038,640
      Border21,99420,05619,949-107-2,0452,71817,231
      Midland12,61811,83711,673-164-9451,7759,898
      West14,17812,96712,908-59-1,2701,39711,511
        
      Southern and Eastern101,88793,89793,128-769-8,75911,26181,867
      Dublin34,80131,96431,819-145-2,9823,66828,151
      Mid-East15,46914,21014,050-160-1,4191,63712,413
      Mid-West12,75811,65011,598-52-1,1601,6209,978
      South-East19,77818,75318,486-267-1,2922,54315,943
      South-West19,08117,32017,175-145-1,9061,79315,382
      Total150,677138,757137,658-1,099-13,01917,151120,507
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western113,567101,357100,399-958-13,16813,19187,208
      Border51,65045,80845,463-345-6,1876,09439,369
      Midland29,11126,46126,092-369-3,0193,79922,293
      West32,80629,08828,844-244-3,9623,29825,546
        
      Southern and Eastern245,509217,937215,897-2,040-29,61226,317189,580
      Dublin86,85277,67877,025-653-9,8279,12867,897
      Mid-East35,20930,79830,462-336-4,7473,75126,711
      Mid-West29,84226,74926,651-98-3,1913,60723,044
      South-East47,65642,87342,272-601-5,3845,64936,623
      South-West45,95039,83939,487-352-6,4634,18235,305
      Total359,076319,294316,296-2,998-42,78039,508276,788
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 August 2015July 2016August 2016Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators8,7077,9147,943+29-7642337,710
Professional9,7368,7488,922+174-8146128,310
Associate professional and technical 5,7835,3345,295-39-4885884,707
Clerical and secretarial10,0309,1759,152-23-8788428,310
Craft and related 58,78149,01748,053-964-10,7283,13344,920
Personal and protective service14,35812,51012,414-96-1,9441,24011,174
Sales15,04312,90012,777-123-2,2662,9319,846
Plant and machine operatives41,55635,63235,085-547-6,4714,01231,073
Other occupation31,52627,42327,175-248-4,3514,36022,815
No occupation112,87911,88411,822-62-1,0574,4067,416
Total 208,399180,537178,638-1,899-29,76122,357156,281
        
Females       
Managers and administrators6,6556,0486,073+25-5821655,908
Professional13,85912,74712,973+226-88677812,195
Associate professional and technical 4,4274,1944,203+9-2243233,880
Clerical and secretarial29,50228,52528,012-513-1,4901,28226,730
Craft and related 6,9246,8746,806-68-1188355,971
Personal and protective service30,78627,77827,518-260-3,2683,39424,124
Sales24,06921,50321,185-318-2,8843,52017,665
Plant and machine operatives14,77413,22413,062-162-1,7121,76311,299
Other occupation10,8509,6749,662-12-1,1882,1677,495
No occupation18,8318,1908,164-26-6672,9245,240
Total150,677138,757137,658-1,099-13,01917,151120,507
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators15,36213,96214,016+54-1,34639813,618
Professional23,59521,49521,895+400-1,7001,39020,505
Associate professional and technical 10,2109,5289,498-30-7129118,587
Clerical and secretarial39,53237,70037,164-536-2,3682,12435,040
Craft and related 65,70555,89154,859-1,032-10,8463,96850,891
Personal and protective service45,14440,28839,932-356-5,2124,63435,298
Sales39,11234,40333,962-441-5,1506,45127,511
Plant and machine operatives56,33048,85648,147-709-8,1835,77542,372
Other occupation42,37637,09736,837-260-5,5396,52730,310
No occupation121,71020,07419,986-88-1,7247,33012,656
Total 359,076319,294316,296-2,998-42,78039,508276,788
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 August 2015July 2016August 2016Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males
   Less than one year103,58692,51291,876-636-11,71014,69277,184
   One year or more104,81388,02586,762-1,263-18,0517,66579,097
   Total208,399180,537178,638-1,899-29,76122,357156,281
       
Females       
   Less than one year91,22184,80184,074-727-7,14712,22771,847
   One year or more59,45653,95653,584-372-5,8724,92448,660
   Total150,677138,757137,658-1,099-13,01917,151120,507
       
All Persons       
   Less than one year194,807177,313175,950-1,363-18,85726,919149,031
   One year or more164,269141,981140,346-1,635-23,92312,589127,757
   Total359,076319,294316,296-2,998-42,78039,508276,788
        
Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
   MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
          
2014August 39,709-853 34,417-751 74,126-1,604
September 38,481-1,228 33,263-1,154 71,744-2,382
 October 38,275-206 33,177-86 71,452-292
 November 38,714+439 33,563+386 72,277+825
 December 38,681-33 33,681+118 72,362+85
 
2015January 38,549-132 33,536-145 72,085-277
 February 38,443-106 33,712+176 72,155+70
March 38,119-324 33,285-427 71,404-751
 April 37,401-718 32,780-505 70,181-1,223
 May 36,899-502 32,360-420 69,259-922
 June 36,854-45 32,611+251 69,465+206
 July 36,457-397 32,342-269 68,799-666
 August 35,795-662 31,693-649 67,488-1,311
 September 34,813-982 30,862-831 65,675-1,813
 October 34,418-395 30,766-96 65,184-491
 November 34,729+311 30,949+183 65,678+494
 December 34,737 + 8 30,941- 8 65,6780
2016January 34,470-267 30,800-141 65,270-408
 February 34,828+358 31,152+352 65,980+710
 March 34,417-411 31,060-92 65,477-503
 April 33,831-586 30,552-508 64,383-1,094
 May 33,566-265 30,289-263 63,855-528
 June 33,504-62 30,244-45 63,748-107
 July 32,567-937 29,513-731 62,080-1,668
 August 32,176-391 29,217-296 61,393-687
Table 8 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping 
  Nationality grouping 
  Non-Irish nationals     
   EU15 excl. IRL & UKEU15 to EU28 States     
United Kingdom  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
  Other  
         
2014August14,9853,67435,44511,280 65,384332,941398,325
September14,0753,49433,84310,099 61,511308,539370,050
 October13,6873,46033,3249,420 59,891298,739358,630
 November13,5493,64133,5789,133 59,901292,746352,647
 December13,6323,64434,0909,074 60,440295,672356,112
 
2015January13,6653,68835,2198,916 61,488297,184358,672
 February13,5373,60135,1668,706 61,010294,114355,124
March13,3143,38934,4468,710 59,859288,817348,676
 April 13,0543,30633,6708,671 58,701284,850343,551
 May13,0413,30033,1388,920 58,399287,234345,633
 June13,3513,38133,1959,419 59,346297,174356,520
 July13,4633,41832,6599,433 58,973304,655363,628
 August13,2643,39532,2169,431 58,306300,770359,076
 September12,4123,21830,6708,844 55,144277,657332,801
 October11,9913,15029,9668,280 53,387267,407320,794
 November11,8753,29430,2118,158 53,538263,048316,586
 December12,0683,36630,8878,127 54,448267,168321,616
2016January12,0873,43031,3988,010 54,925266,877321,802
 February12,0283,39031,5908,138 55,146264,577319,723
 March11,8763,26231,0147,984 54,136261,464315,600
 April11,5353,22230,0667,911 52,734253,051305,785
 May11,5663,21729,4978,267 52,547254,512307,059
 June11,8333,32229,3438,693 53,191262,692315,883
 July11,8643,31428,8728,721 52,771266,523319,294
 August11,7273,33328,2518,648 51,959264,337316,296
Table 9 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 August 2013August 2014August 2015August 2016
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males266,44361.2238,06259.8208,39958.0178,63856.5
Females168,83738.8160,26340.2150,67742.0137,65843.5
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years71,94516.561,49415.449,86513.939,50812.5
25 years and over363,33583.5336,83184.6309,21186.1276,78887.5
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims73,82617.055,29413.950,87814.247,63915.1
JA Applications326,60175.0306,85377.0273,70776.2236,82374.9
Other Registrants34,8538.036,1789.134,4919.631,83410.1
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year238,47254.8210,72752.9194,80754.3175,95055.6
One year or more196,80845.2187,59847.1164,26945.7140,34644.4
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals362,82883.4332,94183.6300,77083.8264,33783.6
Non-Irish Nationals72,45216.665,38416.458,30616.251,95916.4
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western136,58931.4125,37731.5113,56731.6100,39931.7
Southern and Eastern298,69168.6272,94868.5245,50968.4215,89768.3
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators17,4494.016,4254.115,3624.314,0164.4
Professional28,1386.525,5786.423,5956.621,8956.9
Associate professional and technical12,7662.911,6752.910,2102.89,4983.0
Clerical and secretarial44,82310.341,69610.539,53211.037,16411.7
Craft and related 90,85320.976,92719.365,70518.354,85917.3
Personal and protective service52,10912.049,11512.345,14412.639,93212.6
Sales48,32411.144,57411.239,11210.933,96210.7
Plant and machine operatives69,30815.963,33315.956,33015.748,14715.2
Other occupation49,19511.346,22311.642,37611.836,83711.6
No occupation222,3155.122,7795.721,7106.019,9866.3
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work350,17580.4324,19981.4291,58881.2254,90380.6
Casual and part-time work85,10519.674,12618.667,48818.861,39319.4
Total435,280100.0398,325100.0359,076100.0316,296100.0
         
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
2 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes  
 July 2015June 2016July 2016
Back to Work Schemes   
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand1000
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand11,73911,55911,434
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 486423412
Total Back to Work payments 12,22511,98211,846
   
Other Activation Programmes   
DSP Part-time Job Incentive358426420
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 8,0147,9077,783
JobBridge (2011)4,9693,3903,3903
Gateway (2013)42,2581,8061,622
Total Other Activation Programmes15,59913,52913,215
       
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 22,91322,82222,702
   
FAS (Solas) Full Time Training for Unemployed People56,5336,0545,103
       
Back to Education Courses   
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)6N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)74,9763,1302,146
Total Back to Education Courses 9,9768,1307,146
       
Total Activation Programmes67,24662,51760,012
    
1 This scheme was closed to new applications from 1st May 2009.
2 This scheme was introduced from 1st May 2009. It provides immediate support for someone in receipt of Jobseekers
Benefit who wants to start a business.   
3JobBridge figure estimated at 3,390 as data unavailable at time of publication
4 Gateway Scheme included from December 2013.   
5 Specific Skills Training/Local Training initiative/Traineeship/Return to Work. 
6 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year.
7 BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.

Background Notes

Source and scope of the Live Register

The Live Register is compiled from returns made for each local office to the Central Statistics Office by the Department of Social Protection.  It comprises of persons under 65 years of age in the following classes:

  • All Claimants for Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) excluding systematic short-time workers
  • Applicants for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) excluding smallholders/farm assists and other self-employed persons
  • Other registrants including applicants for credited Social Welfare contributions but excluding those directly involved in an industrial dispute.

The Live Register excludes those claimants on Jobseeker schemes who are 65 years of age and over. There was no change to this exclusion criterion with the removal of the State Pension (Transition) Scheme from 1st January 2014. Persons aged 65 years can remain on a Jobseeker scheme up to their next birthday but are not included in the Live Register.

 

Reference Period

The reference periods for the Live Register results are as follows:

August 2016 – 31st July to 27th August 2016
August 2015 – 31st July to 27th August 2015

From May 2015 (reference period) the reference period refers to the week of the last Thursday in the month, previously the reference period referred to the week of the last Friday in the month.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Allowance and or Jobseekers Benefit.  Monthly unemployment is measured by the Monthly Unemployment release and quarterly unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey (formerly the Annual Labour Force Survey).

 

Standardised unemployment rates

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) series, previously in Table 3, has been discontinued from May 2015. It has been replaced by the Monthly Unemployment series, which is published two days before the Live Register.

 

QNHS

The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS), which began in September 1997, replaced the Labour Force Survey and provides quarterly estimates of the unemployment rate. Up to and including the fourth quarter of 2008 the QNHS operated on a seasonal quarter basis.  As of the first quarter 2009 the QNHS is now undertaken on a calendar quarter basis.

The calendar reference quarters for survey results are:
Q1 - January to March, Q2 - April to June, Q3 - July to September and Q4 - October to December.

 

Seasonal Adjustment

Since January 2011 the seasonal adjustment of the Live Register is completed by applying the X-12-ARIMA model, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Seasonal adjustment is conducted using the indirect approach, where each individual series is independently adjusted (male under 25 years, female under 25 years, male 25 years and over and female 25 years and over). To preserve consistency between the individual and aggregate series, the series for gender, age group and total Live Register are then created from these four component series.

 The X-12 ARIMA method has the X-11 moving averages process at its core, but builds on this by providing options for pre-treating the series using a regARIMA approach for prior adjustment and series extension. In essence this methodology will estimate seasonal factors while taking account of temporary changes, outliers, level shifts and calendar effects (e.g timing of Easter).

All Live Register series are updated monthly with the latest three years of seasonally adjusted data as part of the concurrent approach. The comprehensive annual review contains revisions to the entire series. Revisions to the series are typically very minor in scale.

For additional information on the use of X-12-ARIMA see detailed note in the January 2011 Live Register release.

 

Jobseeker’s Benefit Duration

Prior to 19 January 2004 Jobseeker’s Benefit was payable for 15 months (390 days).

From 19 January 2004, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 15 months (390 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

From 15 October 2008, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions.

As of 3 April 2013, Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who have 260 paid PRSI contributions. Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 6 months (156 days) to people who have less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

Claimants getting Jobseeker’s Benefit for 6 months or more on 3 April 2013 (or 3 months for people with fewer than 260 contributions) will not be affected.

 

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)

The One-Parent Family Payment is a social welfare payment for men and women who are younger than 66 and bring up children without the support of a partner and meet certain other criteria. Claimants on this scheme are not counted as part of the Live Register.

From July 2013 new rules came into operation reducing the age limits for the One-Parent Family Payment. This means that some people no longer qualify for the payment and may avail of other schemes or supports.

As a consequence, approximately 2,800 people in July 2013, 1,300 people in July 2014 and 2,786 people in July 2015, previously receiving the One-Parent Family Payment, made a claim for Jobseekers Allowance (JA) and will therefore appear on the Live Register.

For information on the age-related changes to the OFP scheme from July 2013, please see the following link to the Department of Social Protection website:

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/278_One-Parent-Family-Payment.aspx

 

Live Register Flows

Live Register flows data is sourced from information collected by the Department of Social Protection.  The aggregate of new registrations for each month is used in conjunction with the net change over the same period to calculate the outflow from the register.  A new registration is defined as anybody on the Live Register in a particular month who was not on it the previous month.  Inflows and outflows published in this release do not take account of inter-scheme activity within the Live Register.  For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim this is counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA.

 

 

Live Register Area Analysis

The basis of the area analysis in Live Register statistics is the Department of Social Protection local office of registration.  The areas served by Local Employment Offices do not correspond to specific geographic boundaries.  Therefore, registrants at a given local office do not necessarily come from a particular region or area which can be precisely delineated e.g. data for the Cork City Local Offices of Registration refers to all persons signing on in Cork City but may include persons not resident in Cork City.  The latest available Live Register data by Province, County and Local Office of Registration will be released on the CSO website through the CSO StatBank one day after the publication of this release, see link here.

 

NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions

The Regional classifications are based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) classification used by Eurostat.  The NUTS3 regions correspond to the eight Regional Authorities established under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993, which came into operation on 1 January 1994.  The NUTS2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed by Eurostat in 1999, are groupings of the NUTS3 regions.

Border, Midland and Western NUTS2 Region      Southern and Eastern NUTS2 Region          
Border Cavan Dublin Dublin City
  Donegal   Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
  Leitrim   Fingal
  Louth   South Dublin
  Monaghan    
  Sligo Mid-East Kildare
      Meath
Midland Laois   Wicklow
  Longford Mid-West Clare
  Offaly   Limerick City
  Westmeath   Limerick County
      North Tipperary
West Galway City    
  Galway County South-East Carlow
  Mayo   Kilkenny
  Roscommon   South Tipperary
      Waterford City
      Waterford County
      Wexford
       
    South-West Cork City
      Cork County
      Kerry

 

Occupations

Live Register occupational data is sourced from information collected by the Department of Social Protection on the most recent occupation of claimants when they sign on the Live Register.  The classification used is based on the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).  “No occupation” is an additional category and includes those who have never worked and those who have no stated occupation.

 

Age by Duration Analysis

Detailed tables relating to regional and scheme data are available on the CSO website through the CSO Main Data Dissemination Service, StatBank on a bi-annual basis, at the following link: Click here

 

Casual and part-time workers

The casual and part-time workers’ figure is based on data supplied by the Department of Social Protection.  People may apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance if they only work for part of a week and be included on the Live Register.

 

Nationality

Data in the nationality grouping table is sourced from information collected by the Department of Social Protection on the nationality of claimants when they first sign on the Live Register.

For further information or assistance use the contact details on the front page of the release or e-mail labour@cso.ie

upArrowHide Background Notes

Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregisteraugust2016/