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Live Register February 2026

The seasonally adjusted Live Register fell by 200 people to 170,700 people in February 2026

Online ISSN: 200-535X

CSO statistical release, 06 March 2026, 11am

Key Findings

The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for February 2026 was 170,700 people, down by 200 people from January 2026.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 169,507 people for February 2026, of which 56.6% were male and 71.1% were Irish. This is an increase of 4,200 people or 2.5% when compared with February 2025.
The 25-34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in February 2026 at 40,351 people or 23.8% of the total.
The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to February 2026 were Dublin (+8.9%) and Wicklow (+6.1%), while the largest decreases were in Monaghan (-8.3%) and Laois (-4.7%).
In February 2026, there were 116,328 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 7,682 more people (+7.1%) than in February 2025.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (06 March 2026) published results from the Live Register for February 2026.

Commenting on today’s release, Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said:

“The unadjusted Live Register total for February 2026 was 169,507. The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for February 2026 was 170,700 or 200 fewer people than January 2026.

There were 12,532 people benefitting from the EU's Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for February 2026, which was 62 fewer people than January 2026.

The counties that recorded the largest percentage decreases in numbers on the Live Register in the 12 months to February 2026 were Monaghan, down 162 people (-8.3%) and Laois, down 148 people (-4.7%). The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases were Dublin, up 3,838 people (+8.9%), and Wicklow, up 279 people (+6.1%) -(see PxStat table LRM15).

The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more in February 2026 was 53,179, which was 3,482 fewer people (-6.1%) than in February 2025. There were 116,328 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 68.6% of the total number of people on the Live Register.”

Editor's Note

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.

The Live Register includes claims for the new Jobseeker’s Pay Related Benefit (PRB) scheme. The scheme was introduced on Monday 31 March 2025 for persons who became fully unemployed on or after that date. Pay Related Benefit data for April 2025 is now available and Jobseeker’s Benefit data for April 2025 has been revised. Figures by type of Social Welfare Scheme are available on PxStat Tables LRM01 and LRM18.

The seasonally adjusted Live Register decreased by 200 people to 170,700 over the month to February 2026

Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
	Live Register Total	Seasonally Adjusted
February 2025	165,307	166,300
January 2026	170,674	170,900
February 2026	169,507	170,700

Change in month	..	-200
Change in year	4,200	..

Open in Excel: Live Register February 2026 Headline Table (XLS 32KB)

Table 1 Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted

The counties that saw the largest percentage decrease in the number of persons on the Live Register in the 12 months to February 2026 were Monaghan (-8.3%) and Laois (-4.7%)

The number of Jobseeker's Allowance claims increased by 1.7% (1,870) in February 2026 compared with 12 months earlier

The number of Jobseeker’s Benefit claims decreased by 70.3% (-30,453) in February 2026 compared with 12 months earlier.*

The number of Jobseeker’s Pay Related Benefit claims recorded in February 2026 was 33,898.

*Jobseeker’s Pay Related Benefit is a new scheme introduced on 31 March 2025, which has contributed to a reduction in the number of Jobseeker’s Benefit claims year on year to February 2026.

The number of persons on the Live Register for one year or more in February 2026 was 53,179 - down 3,482 (-6.1%) from a year earlier

Table 2 Persons on the Live Register classified by Duration of Continuous Registration

20,771

people under the age of 25 were on the Live Register in February 2026

This cohort accounted for 12.3% of all claimants.

Source: CSO Ireland, Live Register February 2026

Persons between the ages of 25 and 54 accounted for over two-thirds of those on the Live Register in February 2026

Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register

Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register¹
		Males				Females				All Claimants
		Total	Joined	Stayed	Left	Total	Joined	Stayed	Left	Total	Joined	Stayed	Left
JB Claims
2025	February	22,479	4,814	17,665	4,513	20,866	5,282	15,584	3,717	43,345	10,096	33,249	8,230
	March	21,340	3,936	17,404	4,458	18,267	3,205	15,062	5,276	39,607	7,141	32,466	9,734
	April	23,189	6,655	16,534	4,187	23,992	9,421	14,571	3,235	47,181	16,076	31,105	7,422
	May	15,849	2,003	13,846	5,280	14,707	2,060	12,647	8,612	30,556	4,063	26,493	13,892
	June	14,890	2,344	12,546	2,659	18,586	6,655	11,931	2,294	33,476	8,999	24,477	4,953
	July	14,205	2,935	11,270	2,785	23,784	8,448	15,336	2,637	37,989	11,383	26,606	5,422
	August	11,254	1,129	10,125	3,322	15,917	1,487	14,430	8,778	27,171	2,616	24,555	12,100
	September	8,543	918	7,625	3,016	9,443	1,248	8,195	7,300	17,986	2,166	15,820	10,316
	October	7,540	1,642	5,898	1,975	10,996	4,249	6,747	2,225	18,536	5,891	12,645	4,200
	November	6,362	1,163	5,199	1,805	7,679	1,371	6,308	4,307	14,041	2,534	11,507	6,112
	December	7,154	2,069	5,085	793	10,957	4,666	6,291	1,054	18,111	6,735	11,376	1,847

2026	January	5,928	1,207	4,721	2,057	7,270	1,538	5,732	4,872	13,198	2,745	10,453	6,929
	February	5,479	877	4,602	1,153	7,413	1,654	5,759	1,358	12,892	2,531	10,361	2,511
JA Applications
2025	February	66,287	4,385	61,902	5,367	45,372	3,495	41,877	4,127	111,659	7,880	103,779	9,494
	March	65,374	3,932	61,442	5,419	44,678	2,958	41,720	4,110	110,052	6,890	103,162	9,529
	April	65,299	4,334	60,965	5,032	45,274	3,850	41,424	3,696	110,573	8,184	102,389	8,728
	May	65,539	5,803	59,736	6,382	45,040	4,732	40,308	5,462	110,579	10,535	100,044	11,844
	June	66,334	5,178	61,156	4,984	46,902	5,244	41,658	3,806	113,236	10,422	102,814	8,790
	July	66,986	5,605	61,381	5,730	48,561	5,875	42,686	4,740	115,547	11,480	104,067	10,470
	August	67,041	4,456	62,585	5,226	48,018	3,786	44,232	4,897	115,059	8,242	106,817	10,123
	September	65,406	4,977	60,429	7,291	45,246	4,021	41,225	7,279	110,652	8,998	101,654	14,570
	October	64,488	5,556	58,932	7,325	44,210	4,529	39,681	6,148	108,698	10,085	98,613	13,473
	November	64,699	5,100	59,599	5,604	43,663	3,753	39,910	4,794	108,362	8,853	99,509	10,398
	December	66,441	4,774	61,667	3,750	44,963	3,686	41,277	2,836	111,404	8,460	102,944	6,586

2026	January	68,024	6,012	62,012	5,579	45,562	4,513	41,049	4,673	113,586	10,525	103,061	10,252
	February	67,982	4,848	63,134	5,704	45,547	3,564	41,983	4,141	113,529	8,412	105,117	9,845
Other Registrants
2025	February	2,973	69	2,904	130	7,330	139	7,191	258	10,303	208	10,095	388
	March	2,963	83	2,880	138	7,244	141	7,103	295	10,207	224	9,983	433
	April	2,945	81	2,864	144	7,261	218	7,043	281	10,206	299	9,907	425
	May	2,889	76	2,813	171	7,112	153	6,959	377	10,001	229	9,772	548
	June	2,873	86	2,787	137	7,234	254	6,980	219	10,107	340	9,767	356
	July	2,930	114	2,816	138	7,478	345	7,133	235	10,408	459	9,949	373
	August	2,909	101	2,808	153	7,268	162	7,106	449	10,177	263	9,914	602
	September	2,723	91	2,632	299	6,661	172	6,489	836	9,384	263	9,121	1,135
	October	2,630	134	2,496	277	6,502	250	6,252	516	9,132	384	8,748	793
	November	2,628	100	2,528	138	6,448	169	6,279	290	9,076	269	8,807	428
	December	2,668	103	2,565	93	6,514	214	6,300	194	9,182	317	8,865	287

2026	January	2,707	103	2,604	145	6,418	152	6,266	358	9,125	255	8,870	503
	February	2,753	112	2,641	120	6,435	165	6,270	232	9,188	277	8,911	352
Pay Related Benefit ²
2025	April	3,093	3,019	74	..	2,045	2,004	41	..	5,138	5,023	115	..
	May	6,571	4,060	2,511	624	4,562	2,874	1,688	390	11,133	6,934	4,199	1,014
	June	9,310	3,749	5,561	1,017	6,534	2,696	3,838	696	15,844	6,445	9,399	1,713
	July	12,470	4,837	7,633	1,653	9,213	3,762	5,451	1,039	21,683	8,599	13,084	2,692
	August	14,403	3,957	10,446	1,926	10,790	3,034	7,756	1,388	25,193	6,991	18,202	3,314
	September	15,616	4,074	11,542	2,773	11,605	3,272	8,333	2,336	27,221	7,346	19,875	5,109
	October	16,925	4,857	12,068	3,316	12,568	3,580	8,988	2,399	29,493	8,437	21,056	5,715
	November	17,950	4,182	13,768	2,939	12,876	2,784	10,092	2,299	30,826	6,966	23,860	5,238
	December	19,616	3,984	15,632	2,053	13,911	2,535	11,376	1,339	33,527	6,519	27,008	3,392

2026	January	20,122	5,134	14,988	3,772	14,643	3,799	10,844	2,552	34,765	8,933	25,832	6,324
	February	19,717	3,980	15,737	3,687	14,181	2,618	11,563	2,590	33,898	6,598	27,300	6,277
All Schemes
2025	February	91,739	9,268	82,471	10,010	73,568	8,916	64,652	8,102	165,307	18,184	147,123	18,112
	March	89,677	7,951	81,726	10,015	70,189	6,304	63,885	9,681	159,866	14,255	145,611	19,696
	April	91,433	11,070	80,363	9,363	76,527	13,489	63,038	7,212	167,960	24,559	143,401	16,575
	May	90,848	11,942	78,906	12,457	71,421	9,819	61,602	14,841	162,269	21,761	140,508	27,298
	June	93,407	11,357	82,050	8,797	79,256	14,849	64,407	7,015	172,663	26,206	146,457	15,812
	July	96,591	13,491	83,100	10,306	89,036	18,430	70,606	8,651	185,627	31,921	153,706	18,957
	August	95,607	9,643	85,964	10,627	81,993	8,469	73,524	15,512	177,600	18,112	159,488	26,139
	September	92,288	10,060	82,228	13,379	72,955	8,713	64,242	17,751	165,243	18,773	146,470	31,130
	October	91,583	12,189	79,394	12,893	74,276	12,608	61,668	11,288	165,859	24,797	141,062	24,181
	November	91,639	10,545	81,094	10,486	70,666	8,077	62,589	11,690	162,305	18,622	143,683	22,176
	December	95,879	10,930	84,949	6,689	76,345	11,101	65,244	5,423	172,224	22,031	150,193	12,112

2026	January	96,781	12,456	84,325	11,553	73,893	10,002	63,891	12,455	170,674	22,458	148,216	24,008
	February	95,931	9,817	86,114	10,664	73,576	8,001	65,575	8,321	169,507	17,818	151,689	18,985
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 not counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA.
² The Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit (PRB) Scheme was introduced on Monday 31 March 2025 for persons who became fully unemployed on or after that date.
.. indicates no value for a cell in this month.

Open in Excel: Live Register February 2026 Table 3 (XLS 45KB)

There were 36,409 persons availing of activation programmes in January 2026, representing an increase of 312 persons (+0.9%) from the previous year

Data up to the end of January 2026 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 PxStat table LRM14.

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

12,532

people benefitting from the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) included in the Live Register figures for February 2026.

Source: CSO Ireland, Live Register February 2026

59.9% of those benefitting from TPD in February 2026 were female (7,505). 83.1% (10,420) of all recipients were over 25 years old

Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by Nationality Grouping

Table 5 Persons benefitting from the Temporary Protection Directive

Additional Live Register Information

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.

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Table 1 Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
		Unadjusted Series			Seasonally Adjusted Series¹
	Month	Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2024	February	95,643	78,339	173,982	94,700	79,900	174,600
	March	94,711	78,685	173,396	94,700	80,800	175,500
	April	92,963	76,534	169,497	94,200	80,400	174,600
	May	92,479	75,927	168,406	93,700	79,500	173,200
	June	93,165	81,744	174,909	92,900	78,500	171,500
	July	95,558	90,410	185,968	92,500	78,300	170,800
	August	94,744	83,124	177,868	92,500	77,700	170,200
	September	90,014	72,841	162,855	91,200	76,100	167,300
	October	89,486	74,290	163,776	91,800	76,100	167,900
	November	88,130	70,137	158,267	90,400	72,100	162,500
	December	90,702	74,104	164,806	90,600	74,300	164,900

2025	January	92,483	72,752	165,235	90,800	74,500	165,300
	February	91,739	73,568	165,307	90,900	75,400	166,300
	March	89,677	70,189	159,866	90,200	74,400	164,600
	April	91,433	76,527	167,960	92,500	78,900	171,400
	May	90,848	71,421	162,269	91,900	75,100	167,100
	June	93,407	79,256	172,663	93,000	75,900	168,900
	July	96,591	89,036	185,627	93,200	76,300	169,600
	August	95,607	81,993	177,600	93,300	76,100	169,400
	September	92,288	72,955	165,243	93,600	76,200	169,800
	October	91,583	74,276	165,859	94,000	76,000	170,100
	November	91,639	70,666	162,305	94,200	72,700	166,900
	December	95,879	76,345	172,224	95,900	76,300	172,200

2026	January	96,781	73,893	170,674	94,900	76,000	170,900
	February	95,931	73,576	169,507	95,000	75,700	170,700
¹ Table contains revised figures.

Table 2 Persons on the Live Register classified by Duration of Continuous Registration
Duration	February 2025	January 2026	February 2026	Monthly change	Annual change	Under 25 years	25 years & over
Males
Less than one year	58,540	65,046	64,153	-893	+5,613	9,650	54,503
One year or more	33,199	31,735	31,778	+43	-1,421	2,239	29,539
Total	91,739	96,781	95,931	-850	+4,192	11,889	84,042

Females
Less than one year	50,106	52,428	52,175	-253	+2,069	7,164	45,011
One year or more	23,462	21,465	21,401	-64	-2,061	1,718	19,683
Total	73,568	73,893	73,576	-317	+8	8,882	64,694

All Persons
Less than one year	108,646	117,474	116,328	-1,146	+7,682	16,814	99,514
One year or more	56,661	53,200	53,179	-21	-3,482	3,957	49,222
Total	165,307	170,674	169,507	-1,167	+4,200	20,771	148,736

Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by Nationality Grouping
		Nationality Grouping
		Non-Irish nationals
		United Kingdom	EU14_2020 excl. IRL	EU15-EU27_2020	Other	Non-Irish nationals	Irish nationals	All Persons
2024	February	5,434	2,977	15,189	31,154	54,754	119,228	173,982
	March	5,415	2,951	14,975	30,541	53,882	119,514	173,396
	April	5,324	2,936	14,761	29,494	52,515	116,982	169,497
	May	5,275	2,891	14,466	28,704	51,336	117,070	168,406
	June	5,472	2,996	14,565	28,527	51,560	123,349	174,909
	July	5,755	3,272	15,018	28,556	52,601	133,367	185,968
	August	5,542	3,158	14,465	27,833	50,998	126,870	177,868
	September	5,216	2,977	13,857	23,925	45,975	116,880	162,855
	October	5,275	2,990	14,121	23,062	45,448	118,328	163,776
	November	5,139	2,987	14,029	22,722	44,877	113,390	158,267
	December	5,302	3,200	14,544	22,991	46,037	118,769	164,806

2025	January	5,332	3,306	14,963	23,473	47,074	118,161	165,235
	February	5,352	3,273	14,921	23,368	46,914	118,393	165,307
	March	5,188	3,262	14,447	23,024	45,921	113,945	159,866
	April	5,363	3,457	14,755	23,240	46,815	121,145	167,960
	May	5,122	3,348	14,349	23,283	46,102	116,167	162,269
	June	5,424	3,552	14,864	24,300	48,140	124,523	172,663
	July	5,687	3,829	15,632	24,912	50,060	135,567	185,627
	August	5,417	3,788	15,132	24,788	49,125	128,475	177,600
	September	5,119	3,560	14,691	23,707	47,077	118,166	165,243
	October	5,171	3,582	14,829	23,201	46,783	119,076	165,859
	November	5,128	3,557	14,594	23,051	46,330	115,975	162,305
	December	5,385	3,898	15,285	24,087	48,655	123,569	172,224

2026	January	5,332	3,870	15,450	24,729	49,381	121,293	170,674
	February	5,264	3,901	15,341	24,545	49,051	120,456	169,507

Table 5 Persons benefitting from the Temporary Protection Directive
Category	November 2025	December 2025	January 2026	February 2026
Males
Under 25 years	850	1,069	1,302	1,298
25 years & over	3,586	3,721	3,767	3,729
Total	4,436	4,790	5,069	5,027

Females
Under 25 years	641	719	787	814
25 years & over	6,513	6,666	6,738	6,691
Total	7,154	7,385	7,525	7,505

All Persons
Under 25 years	1,491	1,788	2,089	2,112
25 years & over	10,099	10,387	10,505	10,420
Total	11,590	12,175	12,594	12,532

Live Register February 2026