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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Karen Desmond (+353) 21 453 5534 Sabrina Bowen (+353) 21 453 5151 Brendan Curtin (+353) 21 453 5577
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

December 2013

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedStandardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) %
December 2012423,733431,60014.0
November 2013391,507406,10012.5
December 2013395,411402,80012.4
   Percentage Points
Change in month--3,300-0.1
Change in year-28,322--1.6

Seasonally adjusted Live Register decreases by 3,300 in December

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

 

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 3,300 in December 2013, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 402,800.

 In unadjusted terms there were 395,411 people signing on the Live Register in December 2013.  This represents an annual decrease of 28,322 (-6.7%).

The standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in December 2013 was 12.4%, down from 12.5% in November 2013.  The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) was 12.8% in the third quarter of 2013.  The annual average SUR for 2013 was 13.2% down from 14.7% in 2012.

 

 Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 2,400 males in December 2013, while females decreased by 900 over the same period.
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 24,165 (-9.0%) to 245,721 over the year while female claimants decreased by 4,157 (-2.7%) to 149,690. This compares with a decrease of 9,837 (-3.5%) to 269,886 for males and a decrease of 1,214 (-0.8%) to 153,847 for females in the year to December 2012.

 

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 and the latest estimated number of persons unemployed as of the third quarter of 2013 was 282,900.

 

0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
Dec 2011253986180798
Jan 2012255740183849
Feb 2012254867184555
Mar 2012249589184465
Apr 2012245948184053
May 2012244178188729
Jun 2012252725199249
Jul 2012260237200086
Aug 2012254743201513
Sept 2012236557192778
Oct 2012232055188117
Nov 2012230715186562
Dec 2012236589187144
Jan 2013239539189857
Feb 2013239409189467
Mar 2013237192187896
Apr 2013231530186063
May 2013229740191997
Jun 2013237849197508
Jul 2013244405197571
Aug 2013238472196808
Sept 2013219789188881
Oct 2013214111182401
Nov 2013211749179758
Dec 2013215790179621

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in December 2013 was 179,621.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 8,741 (-6.6%) in the year to December 2013, while females increased by 1,218 (+2.2%), giving an overall annual decrease of 7,523 (-4.0%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 7 and graph above.

In December 2013, 54.6% (215,790) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for December 2012 was 55.8% (236,589).  The annual fall of 20,799 (-8.8%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 15,424 (-11.2%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 5,375 (-5.4%) in female short term claimants.

 

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 81,382 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in December 2013, which represents 20.6% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 20.8% one year earlier when there were 88,069 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to December 2013 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 6,687 (-7.6%), with the number of males decreasing by 4,155 (-8.6%) and the number of females decreasing by 2,532 (-6.3%). See table 8.

Under 25 years25 years and over
Dec 201174346360438
Dec 201266944356789
Dec 201359148336263

Live Register age groups

In the year to December 2013 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 20,526 (-5.8%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 7,796 (-11.6%).  Annual decreases in persons aged under 25 have occurred in all months since July 2010, while the number of persons aged 25 and over have fallen annually in all months since July 2012.The percentage of persons aged under 25 on the Live Register now stands at 15.0% for December 2013, down from 15.8% in December 2012 and 17.1% in December 2011. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and graph above.

 

Live Register new registrants

There were 24,739 new registrants on the Live Register in December 2013, consisting of 10,319 JB claims, 13,165 JA claims and 1,255 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 55.2% (13,647) and females 44.8% (11,092) of all new registrants.  On average 3,412 male and 2,773 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 4.

Broad Occupational GroupDecember 2011December 2012December 2013
1165991696716359
2248992468622485
3123571218311280
4426164093637782
51051809720883875
6517405083349689
7446694404942118
8694326846465310
9495354870645971
10177571970120542
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

Bearing in mind the overall annual decrease of 6.7% in the number of people on the Live Register in December the main other points which can be noted include:

  • An annual decrease of 5,044 (-1.7%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 300,590 in December 2013, while JB claimants decreased to 59,646 (-29.5%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 76.0% of all persons on the Live Register in December 2013 compared with 72.1% 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 (-9.0%) followed by the Mid-West region (-7.5%). See table 5.
  • Craft and related (21.2%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in December, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 13,333 (-13.7%) to 83,875.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Professional group (-8.9%). See table 6 and graph above.
  • In December Irish nationals accounted for 82.7% (326,934) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 68,477 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (38,221), followed by the UK (15,201). See table 9
  • A further compositional analysis of the Live Register is also available. See table 10.

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

 

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of November 2013 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 (including Lone Parents) is provided in the Annex – Live Register Activation Programmes table.

There were 85,738 people availing of these programmes in November 2013, which is an increase of 1,677 (+2.0%) from the previous year, when there were 84,061 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
CategoryDecember 2012November 2013December 2013Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims44,43328,85529,607+752-14,826
    JA Applications213,554202,249203,655+1,406-9,899
    Other Registrants11,89912,43412,459+25+560
    Total269,886243,538245,721+2,183-24,165
      
Females     
    JB Claims40,15828,64230,039+1,397-10,119
    JA Applications92,08096,73496,935+201+4,855
    Other Registrants21,60922,59322,716+123+1,107
    Total153,847147,969149,690+1,721-4,157
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims84,59157,49759,646+2,149-24,945
    JA Applications305,634298,983300,590+1,607-5,044
    Other Registrants33,50835,02735,175+148+1,667
    Total423,733391,507395,411+3,904-28,322
      
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryDecember 2012November 2013December 2013Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims2,8891,7371,641-96-1,248
    JA Applications37,78433,65733,580-77-4,204
    Other Registrants83100104+4+21
    Total40,75635,49435,325-169-5,431
      
Females     
    JB Claims2,6251,8071,736-71-889
    JA Applications23,35022,23821,911-327-1,439
    Other Registrants213181176-5-37
    Total26,18824,22623,823-403-2,365
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims5,5143,5443,377-167-2,137
    JA Applications61,13455,89555,491-404-5,643
    Other Registrants296281280-1-16
    Total66,94459,72059,148-572-7,796
      
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryDecember 2012November 2013December 2013Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims41,54427,11827,966+848-13,578
    JA Applications175,770168,592170,075+1,483-5,695
    Other Registrants11,81612,33412,355+21+539
    Total229,130208,044210,396+2,352-18,734
      
Females     
    JB Claims37,53326,83528,303+1,468-9,230
    JA Applications68,73074,49675,024+528+6,294
    Other Registrants21,39622,41222,540+128+1,144
    Total127,659123,743125,867+2,124-1,792
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims79,07753,95356,269+2,316-22,808
    JA Applications244,500243,088245,099+2,011+599
    Other Registrants33,21234,74634,895+149+1,683
    Total356,789331,787336,263+4,476-20,526
      
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2011December279,700155,100434,800 283,700159,400443,100
         
2012January283,900155,700439,600 282,000158,400440,400
 February283,500156,000439,400 280,900158,000438,900
 March280,200153,800434,100 279,900157,000436,900
 April277,400152,600430,000 279,300156,900436,200
 May278,800154,100432,900 279,100157,300436,400
 June286,700165,300452,000 279,800159,200439,000
 July287,800172,500460,300 279,000157,700436,700
 August286,600169,600456,300 278,600157,200435,800
 September273,800155,500429,300 277,700157,100434,700
 October268,500151,600420,200 276,800157,200434,000
 November266,400150,900417,300 275,300157,500432,800
 December269,900153,800423,700 273,700157,900431,600
         
2013January273,600155,800429,400 272,200158,300430,500
 February272,900156,000428,900 270,800158,100428,900
 March269,000156,100425,100 268,500158,200426,700
 April265,000152,600417,600 268,000158,100426,100
 May266,900154,800421,700 267,200158,000425,200
 June270,900164,400435,400 264,200158,100422,300
 July270,300171,700442,000 261,900157,100419,100
 August266,400168,800435,300 259,000156,700415,700
 September254,000154,600408,700 257,300156,300413,500
 October246,800149,800396,500 254,200155,400409,600
 November243,500148,000391,500 251,600154,500406,100
 December245,700149,700395,400 249,200153,600402,800
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
         
2011December45,90028,50074,300 47,70030,60078,300
         
2012January46,50028,80075,300 47,10030,10077,200
 February46,20028,70074,900 46,40029,70076,200
 March45,20027,80073,000 45,90029,20075,100
 April43,90027,00070,900 45,50029,00074,500
 May44,50028,20072,600 45,20028,80074,000
 June47,60031,50079,100 45,20029,20074,500
 July48,10032,60080,700 44,80028,90073,700
 August47,90032,50080,400 44,60028,60073,200
 September44,40029,30073,700 44,10028,50072,500
 October42,20027,70069,900 43,50028,30071,800
 November40,70026,50067,200 42,90028,30071,100
 December40,80026,20066,900 42,40028,10070,600
         
2013January41,50026,90068,400 42,00028,10070,100
 February41,40027,00068,400 41,70027,90069,600
 March40,30026,20066,600 41,10027,50068,600
 April39,40025,60065,000 40,90027,70068,500
 May40,40026,90067,300 41,00027,50068,500
 June42,10029,20071,300 40,00027,10067,000
 July42,40030,20072,500 39,50026,70066,200
 August41,80030,10071,900 38,90026,60065,500
 September38,90027,30066,200 38,50026,50065,000
 October37,00025,60062,600 38,00026,20064,200
 November35,50024,20059,700 37,40025,90063,300
 December35,30023,80059,100 36,80025,60062,400
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
         
2011December233,800126,600360,400 236,000128,800364,800
         
2012January237,400126,900364,200 234,900128,300363,200
 February237,200127,200364,500 234,500128,300362,700
 March235,100126,000361,100 234,000127,800361,800
 April233,500125,600359,100 233,800127,900361,700
 May234,300126,000360,300 234,000128,500362,400
 June239,100133,800372,900 234,500130,000364,500
 July239,700139,900379,600 234,200128,800363,000
 August238,800137,100375,900 234,000128,600362,600
 September229,400126,300355,600 233,600128,600362,200
 October226,300123,900350,300 233,300128,900362,200
 November225,700124,500350,100 232,400129,300361,700
 December229,100127,700356,800 231,200129,800361,000
         
2013January232,200128,900361,000 230,100130,300360,400
 February231,500129,000360,500 229,100130,200359,300
 March228,700129,900358,500 227,400130,700358,100
 April225,700127,000352,600 227,100130,500357,600
 May226,600127,900354,500 226,200130,500356,700
 June228,800135,200364,000 224,300131,000355,300
 July227,900141,500369,400 222,500130,400352,900
 August224,600138,700363,300 220,100130,100350,200
 September215,200127,300342,500 218,700129,800348,500
 October209,800124,100333,900 216,200129,200345,400
 November208,000123,700331,800 214,200128,600342,800
 December210,400125,900336,300 212,400128,000340,400
1 Table contains revised figures.
Table 3 Seasonally Adjusted Standardised Unemployment Rates (SUR)1
Month200820092010201120122013
 %%%%%%
January4.99.513.114.515.013.9
February25.010.213.014.415.113.8
March5.310.913.214.514.913.7
April5.411.513.514.314.813.6
May25.712.113.814.414.813.6 
June6.012.313.714.514.813.3
July6.512.513.814.714.813.1
August26.912.613.914.814.712.83
September7.212.914.314.714.512.7
October7.713.014.514.814.312.6
November28.113.014.714.914.112.5
December8.613.014.714.914.012.4
       
Annual average6.412.013.814.614.713.2
1 Table contains revised figures. See Background Notes.  
2 Benchmark Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) calendar quarter estimates.
3 The latest QNHS estimate of the unemployment rate (adjusted for seasonality) is: July - September 2013, 12.8%.
Table 4 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           
2012December444,4336,2174,995+306 40,1586,156     4,107+512
            
2013January446,1109,4597,782+419 40,6189,322     8,862+115
 February445,4867,0817,705-156 40,3187,321     7,621-75
 March543,6947,4679,259-358 40,7398,579     8,158+84
 April 441,6786,1508,166-504 38,0587,117     9,798-670
 May540,1166,5618,123-312 36,9006,286     7,444-232
 June439,4325,4256,109-171 39,5867,484     4,798+672
 July438,1865,6856,931-312 43,5319,917     5,972+986
 August534,4385,6239,371-750 39,3886,718     10,861-829
 September430,6024,9538,789-959 31,1125,441     13,717-2,069
 October429,3156,1737,460-322 29,2155,211     7,108-474
 November528,8557,7148,174- 92 28,6429,051     9,624- 115
 December429,6074,9194,167+188 30,0395,400     4,003+349
            
JA Applications           
2012December4213,5548,4566,269+547 92,0804,7344,117+154
            
2013January4215,47810,4338,509+481 93,3686,3785,090+322
 February4215,28210,56310,759-49 93,8736,4705,965+126
 March5213,05511,59613,823-445 93,3066,9167,483-113
 April 4211,1029,34411,297-488 92,6685,7866,424-160
 May5214,64112,3308,791+708 96,1438,4214,946+695
 June4219,35811,4556,738+1,179 102,94210,6623,863+1,700
 July4220,09310,87210,137+184 105,7538,6415,830+703
 August5219,79912,91713,211-59 106,8029,1998,150+210
 September4211,15512,16420,808-2,161 101,2378,47414,039-1,391
 October4205,09611,83017,889-1,515 98,1087,91911,048-782
 November5202,24912,90615,753-569 96,7348,4919,865-275
 December4203,6558,2776,871+352 96,9354,8884,687+50
            
Other Registrants           
2012December411,899467360+27 21,609799525+69
            
2013January412,039687547+35 21,7831,2371,063+44
 February412,087586538+12 21,8301,0651,018+12
 March512,247776616+32 22,0471,2401,023+43
 April 412,237533543-3  21,8509291,126-49
 May512,164567640-15 21,7739241,001-15
 June412,147489506-4  21,8921,012893+30
 July412,024554677-31  22,3891,5341,037+124
 August512,206766584+36 22,6471,4321,174+52
 September412,289675592+21 22,2751,1901,562-93
 October412,342760707+13 22,4361,2801,119+40
 November512,434773681+18 22,5931,4861,329+31
 December412,459451426+6 22,716804681+31
            
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 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1December 2012November 2013December 2013Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western82,95175,21275,908+696-7,04311,43264,476
      Border37,83234,26134,418+157-3,4145,39029,028
      Midland21,08019,42319,617+194-1,4633,04116,576
      West24,03921,52821,873+345-2,1663,00118,872
        
      Southern and Eastern186,935168,326169,813+1,487-17,12223,893145,920
      Dublin65,76960,28060,344+64-5,4258,71151,633
      Mid-East25,63323,10423,360+256-2,2733,36219,998
      Mid-West22,96420,48920,854+365-2,1103,00917,845
      South-East35,95432,42432,780+356-3,1744,78028,000
      South-West36,61532,02932,475+446-4,1404,03128,444
      Total269,886243,538245,721+2,183-24,16535,325210,396
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western49,07047,37247,772+400-1,2987,97839,794
      Border21,86321,23721,313+76-5503,58417,729
      Midland12,25312,12612,235+109-182,2689,967
      West14,95414,00914,224+215-7302,12612,098
        
      Southern and Eastern104,777100,597101,918+1,321-2,85915,84586,073
      Dublin34,55533,93534,051+116-5045,54528,506
      Mid-East15,19414,91015,192+282-22,22212,970
      Mid-West13,56412,60112,946+345-6182,08710,859
      South-East20,07019,27319,395+122-6753,13716,258
      South-West21,39419,87820,334+456-1,0602,85417,480
      Total153,847147,969149,690+1,721-4,15723,823125,867
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western132,021122,584123,680+1,096-8,34119,410104,270
      Border59,69555,49855,731+233-3,9648,97446,757
      Midland33,33331,54931,852+303-1,4815,30926,543
      West38,99335,53736,097+560-2,8965,12730,970
        
      Southern and Eastern291,712268,923271,731+2,808-19,98139,738231,993
      Dublin100,32494,21594,395+180-5,92914,25680,139
      Mid-East40,82738,01438,552+538-2,2755,58432,968
      Mid-West36,52833,09033,800+710-2,7285,09628,704
      South-East56,02451,69752,175+478-3,8497,91744,258
      South-West58,00951,90752,809+902-5,2006,88545,924
      Total423,733391,507395,411+3,904-28,32259,148336,263
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 December 2012November 2013December 2013Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators10,0699,2949,414+120-6553119,103
Professional11,40110,01010,194+184-1,2079039,291
Associate professional and technical 6,9526,4266,428+2-5249045,524
Clerical and secretarial11,15510,12510,315+190-8401,1929,123
Craft and related 89,84076,17376,873+700-12,9676,56170,312
Personal and protective service18,27117,13017,320+190-9512,33414,986
Sales17,15416,43716,413-24-7414,62311,790
Plant and machine operatives53,42149,57350,036+463-3,3856,02844,008
Other occupation39,11335,86036,100+240-3,0136,87529,225
No occupation112,51012,51012,628+118+1185,5947,034
Total 269,886243,538245,721+2,183-24,16535,325210,396
        
Females       
Managers and administrators6,8986,8306,945+115+471816,764
Professional13,28512,02412,291+267-99497111,320
Associate professional and technical 5,2314,8274,852+25-3794974,355
Clerical and secretarial29,78126,53927,467+928-2,3141,58825,879
Craft and related 7,3686,9797,002+23-3669456,057
Personal and protective service32,56231,82732,369+542-1935,67426,695
Sales26,89525,94525,705-240-1,1905,52520,180
Plant and machine operatives15,04315,18015,274+94+2312,20613,068
Other occupation9,5939,8359,871+36+2782,7747,097
No occupation17,1917,9837,914-69+7233,4624,452
Total153,847147,969149,690+1,721-4,15723,823125,867
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators16,96716,12416,359+235-60849215,867
Professional24,68622,03422,485+451-2,2011,87420,611
Associate professional and technical 12,18311,25311,280+27-9031,4019,879
Clerical and secretarial40,93636,66437,782+1,118-3,1542,78035,002
Craft and related 97,20883,15283,875+723-13,3337,50676,369
Personal and protective service50,83348,95749,689+732-1,1448,00841,681
Sales44,04942,38242,118-264-1,93110,14831,970
Plant and machine operatives68,46464,75365,310+557-3,1548,23457,076
Other occupation48,70645,69545,971+276-2,7359,64936,322
No occupation119,70120,49320,542+49+8419,05611,486
Total 423,733391,507395,411+3,904-28,32259,148336,263
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Table 7 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 December 2012November 2013December 2013Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males       
   Less than one year137,686120,049122,262+2,213-15,42421,991100,271
   One year or more132,200123,489123,459-30-8,74113,334110,125
   Total269,886243,538245,721+2,183-24,16535,325210,396
        
Females       
   Less than one year98,90391,70093,528+1,828-5,37516,44377,085
   One year or more54,94456,26956,162-107+1,2187,38048,782
   Total153,847147,969149,690+1,721-4,15723,823125,867
        
All Persons       
   Less than one year236,589211,749215,790+4,041-20,79938,434177,356
   One year or more187,144179,758179,621-137-7,52320,714158,907
   Total423,733391,507395,411+3,904-28,32259,148336,263
        
Table 8 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
   MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
         
2011December 46,044+130 40,771+73 86,815+203
          
2012January 46,256+212 40,773+2 87,029+214
 February 47,038+782 41,176+403 88,214+1,185
 March 47,539+501 41,177+1 88,716+502
 April 47,614+75 40,828-349 88,442-274
 May 47,626+12 40,438-390 88,064-378
 June 47,891+265 40,574+136 88,465+401
 July 47,797-94 40,244-330 88,041-424
 August 47,569-228 39,585-659 87,154-887
 September 46,643-926 38,447-1,138 85,090-2,064
 October 46,829+186 38,834+387 85,663+573
 November 47,695+866 39,786+952 87,481+1,818
 December 48,082+387 39,987+201 88,069+588
          
2013January 47,829+253 40,095+108 87,924-145
 February 48,870+1,041 40,910+815 89,780+1,856
 March 48,961+91 40,837-73 89,798+18
 April 48,527-434 40,382-455 88,909-889
 May 48,095-432 39,848-534 87,943-966
 June 48,178+83 40,144+296 88,322+379
 July 47,592+586 39,827-317 87,419-903
 August 46,259-1,333 38,846-981 85,105-2,314
 September 44,676-1,583 37,619-1,227 82,295-2,810
 October 43,945-731 37,374-245 81,319-976
 November 43,911-34 37,578+204 81,489+170
 December 43,927+16 37,455-123 81,382-107
           
Table 9 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping 
  Nationality grouping 
  Non-Irish nationals     
   EU15 excl. IRL & UKEU15 to EU281 States     
United Kingdom  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
  Other  
          
2011December17,7983,60541,26313,554 76,220358,564434,784
        
2012January17,8273,64842,83113,845 78,151361,438439,589
 February17,7833,68543,34113,946 78,755360,667439,422
 March17,5213,60843,02513,926 78,080355,974434,054
 April 17,3373,55842,26813,852 77,015352,986430,001
 May17,4473,55141,63414,151 76,783356,124432,907
 June18,0543,77041,36015,072 78,256373,718451,974
 July18,2903,75641,16715,209 78,422381,901460,323
 August18,1433,70040,62915,277 77,749378,507456,256
 September17,1353,52539,33514,324 74,319355,016429,335
 October16,7673,47739,34713,906 73,497346,675420,172
 November16,6953,53039,93513,588 73,748343,529417,277
 December16,8063,57540,49113,667 74,539349,194423,733
        
2013January16,9343,74342,00413,761 76,442352,954429,396
 February16,7993,85342,56113,616 76,829352,047428,876
 March16,5553,85142,24613,194 75,846349,242425,088
 April 16,1803,68341,63512,864 74,362343,231417,593
 May16,1873,66340,85813,124 73,832347,905421,737
 June16,7063,75040,63413,520 74,610360,747435,357
 July16,8733,74840,13613,312 74,069367,907441,976
 August16,5153,67939,17513,083 72,452362,828435,280
 September15,5433,53637,84212,320 69,241339,429408,670
 October15,1453,49037,27511,627 67,537328,975396,512
 November15,0993,66037,74811,386 67,893323,614391,507
 December15,2013,71138,22111,344 68,477326,934395,411
          
1With the addition of Croatia from July 2013, EU15- EU28
Table 10 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 December 2010December 2011December 2012December 2013
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males288,80266.1279,72364.3269,88663.7245,72162.1
Females148,27733.9155,06135.7153,84736.3149,69037.9
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years81,28018.674,34617.166,94415.859,14815.0
25 years and over355,79981.4360,43882.9356,78984.2336,26385.0
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims125,07528.6102,66323.684,59120.059,64615.1
JA Applications285,36865.3301,45369.3305,63472.1300,59076.0
Other Registrants26,6366.130,6687.133,5087.935,1758.9
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year281,75564.5253,98658.4236,58955.8215,79054.6
One year or more155,32435.5180,79841.6187,14444.2179,62145.4
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals360,43482.5358,56482.5349,19482.4326,93482.7
Non-Irish Nationals76,64517.576,22017.574,53917.668,47717.3
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western135,51631.0134,49230.9132,02131.2123,68031.3
Southern and Eastern301,56369.0300,29269.1291,71268.8271,73168.7
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators16,8703.916,5993.816,9674.016,3594.1
Professional24,9925.724,8995.724,6865.822,4855.7
Associate professional and technical12,7792.912,3572.812,1832.911,2802.9
Clerical and secretarial42,3629.742,6169.840,9369.737,7829.6
Craft and related 114,83426.3105,18024.297,20822.983,87521.2
Personal and protective service49,27511.351,74011.950,83312.049,68912.6
Sales42,1859.744,66910.344,04910.442,11810.7
Plant and machine operatives69,84416.069,43216.068,46416.265,31016.5
Other occupation49,53311.349,53511.448,70611.545,97111.6
No occupation214,4053.317,7574.119,7014.620,5425.2
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work355,02181.2347,96980.0335,66479.2314,02979.4
Casual and part-time work82,05818.886,81520.088,06920.881,38220.6
Total437,079100.0434,784100.0423,733100.0395,411100.0
         
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.
Live Register Activation Programmes    
 November 2012October 2013November 2013
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand1211211
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand10,88410,26910,152
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 1,138708640
Total Back to Work payments 12,04310,98910,803
    
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive215243313
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 4,5226,8496,849
JobBridge (2011)5,5036,1746,174
Total Other Activation Programmes10,24013,26613,336
        
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 21,10221,80622,238
    
FAS Full Time Training for Unemployed People3 9,8579,1459,199
        
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)4N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)525,81924,43225,162
Total Back to Education Courses 30,81929,43230,162
        
Total Activation Programmes84,06184,63885,738
    
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.   
3 Specific Skills Training/Local Training initiative/Traineeship/Return to Work.  
Breakdown became available for April 2012 Live Register release.   
4 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year.
5 BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.
Includes MOMENTUM participants from February 2013.   

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.

 

Reference Period

The reference periods for the Live Register results are as follows:
December 2013 – 30th November to 27th December 2013
December 2012 – 1st December to 28th December 2012

 

Unemployment statistics

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 Jobseeker’s Allowance and or Jobseeker’s Benefit.  Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey (formerly the Annual Labour Force Survey).

 

Standardised unemployment rates

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) series in Table 3 is based on the estimated number of persons unemployed expressed as a percentage of the total economically active population (i.e. the Labour Force), using internationally comparable definitions of employment and unemployment, as recommended by the International Labour Office. 

Official estimates of the number of persons unemployed and the unemployment rate are produced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). The QNHS is the only source of information on unemployment and employment which can apply standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology to the estimation of these key indicators. The background notes of the QNHS release contain more information on the ILO criteria. Given the timelag required to produce estimates from the QNHS and the quarterly periodicity, short-term trends in the Live Register are used to estimate more up-to-date monthly unemployment rates.

The seasonally adjusted QNHS estimate of unemployment is used as a benchmark for February (Quarter 1 QNHS), May (Quarter 2 QNHS), August (Quarter 3 QNHS) and November (Quarter 4 QNHS) each year. The latest QNHS benchmark is updated using the trend in the seasonally adjusted Live Register to allow the estimation of the SUR. Once new QNHS data is available it is used to revise the SUR series. The assumption underlying this methodology is that over short periods the change in the seasonally adjusted Live Register will represent accurately the change in unemployment which will be seen from the QNHS. This methodology has been used since the QNHS was first initiated at the end of 1997.

 

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.

The calendar quarter estimates for Q3 2013 (adjusted for seasonality) are:

 

Q1

%

Q2

%

Q3

%

Q4

%

2008

5.0

5.7

6.9

 8.1

2009

10.2

12.1

12.6

13.0

2010

13.0

13.8

13.9

14.7

2011

14.4

14.4

14.8

14.9

2012

15.1

14.8

14.7

14.1

2013

13.8

13.6

 12.8

 

 

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 claim).

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)

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 Office 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

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