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Monthly Unemployment December 2024

The Monthly Unemployment rate for December 2024 was 4.2%, up from 4.1% in November

Online ISSN: 2009-8456

CSO statistical publication, 08 January 2025, 11am

Key Findings

In December 2024, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2%, which was up from a rate of 4.1% in November 2024. On an annual basis, the unemployment rate of 4.2% is down from 4.5% in December 2023.
Breaking down the results by sex, the Monthly Unemployment rate in December 2024 was 4.2% for males, up from 4.1% in November 2024, and down from a rate of 4.3% in December 2023.
The Monthly Unemployment rate in December 2024 was 4.2% for females, unchanged from a revised rate of 4.2% in November 2024, and down from a rate of 4.6% in December 2023.
In terms of age, the Monthly Unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 years (youth unemployment rate) increased to 11.6%, from a revised rate of 11.2% in November 2024.
The Monthly Unemployment rate for people aged 25-74 years was 3.0%, which was unchanged from November 2024.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (08 January 2025) published Monthly Unemployment Estimates results for December 2024.

Commenting on today’s release, Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said: “The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2024 (for all people aged 15-74 years) was 4.2%, up from 4.1% recorded in November 2024 and down from 4.5% in December 2023. In December 2024, the unemployment rate for both males and females was 4.2%.

The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed was 121,700 in December 2024, compared with 120,300 in November 2024. There was a fall of 3,900 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in December 2024 when compared with a year earlier.

The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed males rose to 64,600 in December 2024, compared with 63,000 in November 2024. The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed females in December 2024 fell to 57,100 from 57,300 in November 2024.”

Editor's Note

The methodology for the Monthly Unemployment Estimates involves forecasting the number of persons who are unemployed using the trend in the recipient Live Register series. The Department of Social Protection is providing Working Age Income supports to people arriving in Ireland from Ukraine under the Temporary Protection Directive. The Live Register series includes recipients of these supports who have met the relevant criteria. This has impacted on the numbers of unemployed, primarily females, in these monthly estimates.

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. In addition, it should be noted that larger revisions can occur when the most recent Labour Force Survey (LFS) data are included in the calculation process.

The Monthly Unemployment Estimates published today for November 2024 have incorporated the LFS benchmarks up to Q3 2024 for the monthly estimates up to September 2024. The estimates for October, November and December 2024 have been forecasted. Forecasted figures are subject to revision.

Headline Table and Graph

Seasonally Adjusted Monthly Unemployment
	Number of persons unemployed	Unemployment rate (%)
December 2023	125,600	4.5
November 2024	120,300	4.1
December 2024	121,700	4.2
	Number	Percentage points
Change in month	1,400	0.1
Change in year	-3,900	-0.3

Open in Excel: Monthly Unemployment December 2024 Headline Table (XLS 10KB)

Tables

Table 1a Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-74 years

Table 1b Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-24 years

Table 1c Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 25-74 years

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Table 1a Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-74 years

		Number of persons			Unemployment rate (%)
		Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2022	December	63,100	56,500	119,600	4.3	4.4	4.4

2023	January	65,000	53,700	118,600	4.4	4.1	4.3
	February	64,200	50,100	114,300	4.4	3.9	4.1
	March	63,000	49,500	112,500	4.3	3.8	4.1
	April	61,300	51,400	112,800	4.2	3.9	4.1
	May	61,700	52,800	114,500	4.2	4.0	4.1
	June	64,800	55,000	119,800	4.4	4.2	4.3
	July	66,100	55,000	121,100	4.5	4.2	4.3
	August	67,700	55,600	123,200	4.6	4.2	4.4
	September	68,500	59,900	128,500	4.6	4.5	4.6
	October	66,700	61,100	127,800	4.5	4.6	4.6
	November	64,000	61,400	125,400	4.3	4.6	4.5
	December	63,800	61,900	125,600	4.3	4.6	4.5

2024	January	63,300	62,200	125,500	4.3	4.7	4.5
	February	58,600	56,600	115,200	4.0	4.2	4.1
	March	60,700	57,700	118,400	4.1	4.3	4.2
	April	64,700	59,300	124,100	4.3	4.4	4.4
	May	65,100	59,700	124,800	4.3	4.4	4.4
	June	65,200	60,100	125,300	4.3	4.4	4.4
	July	66,500	64,400	130,900	4.4	4.7	4.5
	August	61,000	58,800	119,900	4.0	4.3	4.2
	September	61,500	58,900	120,400	4.0	4.3	4.2
	October	63,300	58,700	122,000	4.1	4.3	4.2
	November	63,000	57,300	120,300	4.1	4.2	4.1
	December	64,600	57,100	121,700	4.2	4.2	4.2

Table 1b Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 15-24 years

		Number of persons			Unemployment rate (%)
		Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2022	December	19,300	16,300	35,600	10.9	9.8	10.4

2023	January	19,600	16,900	36,400	10.8	9.9	10.4
	February	19,500	16,600	36,100	10.7	9.6	10.2
	March	18,900	16,600	35,500	10.3	9.5	9.9
	April	18,000	17,000	35,000	9.9	9.7	9.8
	May	18,100	17,200	35,400	10.1	9.7	9.9
	June	19,100	18,400	37,500	10.6	10.4	10.5
	July	20,000	18,800	38,800	11.0	10.6	10.8
	August	20,900	19,300	40,200	11.4	10.9	11.2
	September	21,600	21,600	43,200	11.7	12.1	11.9
	October	20,300	21,000	41,300	10.9	11.7	11.3
	November	19,600	20,900	40,500	10.5	11.6	11.0
	December	19,800	20,700	40,500	10.5	11.5	11.0

2024	January	20,100	20,700	40,800	10.7	11.5	11.1
	February	18,400	17,700	36,100	9.9	10.0	10.0
	March	19,100	17,200	36,400	10.2	9.8	10.0
	April	20,000	16,700	36,700	10.6	9.6	10.1
	May	20,000	16,300	36,300	10.5	9.4	10.0
	June	19,800	16,500	36,300	10.4	9.4	9.9
	July	21,800	19,000	40,900	11.3	10.4	10.9
	August	19,900	18,100	38,000	10.3	9.8	10.1
	September	20,600	19,800	40,400	10.5	10.6	10.6
	October	21,500	20,700	42,200	10.8	11.0	10.9
	November	22,600	21,100	43,700	11.3	11.1	11.2
	December	23,800	21,600	45,400	11.8	11.4	11.6

Table 1c Seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment by sex - persons aged 25-74 years

		Number of persons			Unemployment rate (%)
		Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2022	December	43,800	40,200	84,000	3.4	3.6	3.5

2023	January	45,400	36,800	82,200	3.5	3.3	3.4
	February	44,700	33,500	78,300	3.5	3.0	3.2
	March	44,100	32,900	77,000	3.4	2.9	3.2
	April	43,300	34,500	77,800	3.4	3.0	3.2
	May	43,500	35,600	79,100	3.4	3.1	3.3
	June	45,600	36,600	82,200	3.6	3.2	3.4
	July	46,100	36,200	82,300	3.6	3.2	3.4
	August	46,800	36,200	83,000	3.6	3.2	3.4
	September	47,000	38,300	85,300	3.6	3.4	3.5
	October	46,400	40,100	86,500	3.6	3.5	3.5
	November	44,400	40,500	84,900	3.4	3.5	3.5
	December	44,000	41,200	85,200	3.4	3.6	3.5

2024	January	43,200	41,500	84,800	3.3	3.6	3.5
	February	40,200	38,900	79,100	3.1	3.4	3.2
	March	41,600	40,500	82,000	3.2	3.5	3.3
	April	44,700	42,600	87,300	3.4	3.6	3.5
	May	45,100	43,400	88,500	3.4	3.7	3.5
	June	45,400	43,600	89,000	3.5	3.7	3.6
	July	44,700	45,300	90,000	3.4	3.8	3.6
	August	41,100	40,700	81,800	3.1	3.4	3.3
	September	40,900	39,100	80,000	3.1	3.3	3.2
	October	41,800	38,000	79,800	3.1	3.2	3.2
	November	40,400	36,200	76,600	3.0	3.1	3.0
	December	40,700	35,500	76,200	3.1	3.0	3.0

Monthly Unemployment December 2024