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The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for December 2023 was 173,900 people, down by 500 people or 0.3% from November 2023.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 173,003 people for December 2023.
Of the 173,003 people on the unadjusted Live Register in December 2023, 54.7% were male and 68.8% were Irish.
The 35-44 age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in December 2023 at 40,984 people or 23.7%.
Three counties saw an increase in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to December 2023: Meath (5.6%), Laois (1.1%) and Leitrim (1.0%).
There were 110,708 people on the Live Register for less than one year, representing a decrease of 12,268 over the 12 months since December 2022.
People arriving in Ireland from Ukraine under the EU's Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) can access a wide range of Department of Social Protection (DSP) supports. The majority of new applications for income support from people of working age are being processed as Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) claims until the most appropriate income support for that person is identified. This facilitates access to existing part-time work supports where appropriate. If a person is on JA for 20* claim paid days or more, they are counted on the Live Register.
*Before October 2022, persons availing of TPD were included in the Live Register when they had been in receipt of JA for 50 days or more.
Data in this release are subject to revision based on updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added, such revisions are typically very minor in scale. It should be noted that larger revisions can occur when the comprehensive annual review of the seasonal adjustment model is carried out in January of each year. See background notes for further details.
| Total Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted | ||
| Live Register Total | Seasonally Adjusted | |
| December 2022 | 184,642 | 185,800 |
| November 2023 | 169,446 | 174,400 |
| December 2023 | 173,003 | 173,900 |
| Change in month | - | -500 |
| Change in year | -11,639 | - |
© Central Statistics Office, Ireland
https://data.cso.ie/table/LRM02
The number of Jobseekers Benefit claims decreased by 74 (0.2%) in December 2023 compared with 12 months earlier.
© Central Statistics Office, Ireland
https://data.cso.ie/table/LRM18
Data up to the end of November 2023 on the number of persons 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 Table A1 – Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes table.
Persons on activation programmes are not counted as part of the monthly Live Register.
Detailed tables relating to the monthly estimates of the number of persons on Live Register classified by NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions are included in the CSO Main Data Dissemination Service LRM17 on PxStat.
Table LRM13 on PxStat includes the Live Register occupational data which is sourced from information collected by the DSP on the most recent occupation of claimants when they sign on the Live Register.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 January 2024) issued results from the Live Register for December 2023.
Commenting on today’s publication, Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said:
“The unadjusted Live Register total for December 2023 was 173,003. When seasonal effects are considered, the seasonally adjusted Live Register total for December 2023 was 173,900 or 500 fewer people than November 2023.
There were 22,369 people benefitting from the EU's Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for December 2023, a rise of 364 people from November 2023.
Percentage increases in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to December 2023 were recorded in Meath (5.6%), Laois (1.1%) and Leitrim (1.0%) - (See PxStat Table See LRM15.)
The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more in December 2023 was 62,295, which was 629 more people (+1.0%) than a year earlier. There were 110,708 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which represents just under two-thirds of the total number on the Live Register.”