The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for March 2025 was 162,900 people, down by 1,600 people or 1.0% from February 2025.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 159,866 people for March 2025, of which 56.1% were male and 71.3% were Irish.
The 25-34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in March 2025 at 37,536 people or 23.5% of the total.
All counties recorded a decrease in numbers on the Live Register in the twelve months to March 2025. The largest percentage decrease was in Clare, down 876 people (-19.1%) from March 2024.
In March 2025 there were 103,969 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 7,494 fewer people (-6.7%) than March 2024.
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.
From 9 September 2024 beneficiaries of EU’s Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) living in Designated Accommodation Centres no longer qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance and thus are no longer enumerated on the Live Register – see Background Notes.
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 | |
March 2024 | 173,396 | 174,500 |
February 2025 | 165,307 | 164,500 |
March 2025 | 159,866 | 162,900 |
Change in month | .. | -1,600 |
Change in year | -13,530 | .. |
The number of Jobseeker’s Benefit claims decreased by 2.1% (-860) in March 2025 compared with 12 months earlier.
Data up to the end of February 2025 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.
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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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (04 April 2025) published results from the Live Register for March 2025.
Commenting on today’s release, Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said:
“The unadjusted Live Register total for March 2025 was 159,866. When seasonal effects are considered, the seasonally adjusted Live Register total for March 2025 was 162,900 or 1,600 fewer people than February 2025.
There were 12,776 people benefitting from the EU's Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for March 2025, a decrease of 299 people from February 2025.
All counties recorded a decrease in numbers on the Live Register in the twelve months to March 2025. The largest percentage decrease was in Clare, down 876 people (-19.1%) from March 2024 - (See PxStat Table LRM15).
The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more in March 2025 was 55,897, which was 6,036 fewer people (-9.7%) than a year earlier. There were 103,969 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 65.0% of the total number of people on the Live Register.”