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Monthly Unemployment January 2026

The Monthly Unemployment rate for January 2026 was 4.7%, unchanged from December 2025

Online ISSN: 2009-8456

CSO statistical release, 05 February 2026, 11am

Key Findings

In January 2026, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7%, unchanged from the revised December 2025 rate. On an annual basis, the unemployment rate increased from 4.5% in January 2025 to 4.7% in January 2026.
Breaking down the results by sex, the monthly unemployment rate for males in January 2026 was 4.8%, unchanged from the revised December 2025 rate, and up from 4.5% recorded in January 2025.
The monthly unemployment rate in January 2026 was 4.5% for females, unchanged from the revised December 2025 rate, and up from 4.4% in January 2025.
In terms of age, the monthly unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 years (Youth Unemployment Rate) was 11.8%, up from a revised rate of 11.4% in December 2025.
The monthly unemployment rate for people aged 25-74 years was 3.6%, down from a revised rate of 3.7% in December 2025.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (05 February 2026) published Monthly Unemployment Estimates results for January 2026.

Commenting on today’s release, Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said: “The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for all people aged 15-74 years in January 2026 was 4.7%, unchanged from December 2025, and up from 4.5% in January 2025. In January 2026, the unemployment rate for males was 4.8% and for females was 4.5%.

The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed was 138,400 in January 2026, compared with 137,800 in December 2025. There was an increase of 8,600 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in January 2026 when compared with January 2025.

The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed males increased to 76,000 in January 2026, compared with 75,200 in December 2025. The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed females in January 2026 was 62,400, down from 62,700 in December 2025.”

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 January 2026 have incorporated the LFS benchmarks up to Q4 2025 for the monthly estimates up to December 2025. The estimates for January 2026 have been forecasted. Forecasted figures are subject to revision.

Key Figures

Seasonally Adjusted Monthly Unemployment
	Number of persons unemployed	Unemployment rate (%)
January 2025	129,800	4.5
December 2025	137,800	4.7
January 2026	138,400	4.7
	Number	Percentage points
Change in month	600	0.0
Change in year	8,600	0.2

Open in Excel: Monthly Unemployment January 2026 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
2024	January	64,200	61,500	125,700	4.3	4.6	4.5
	February	60,300	57,300	117,600	4.1	4.3	4.2
	March	62,200	57,900	120,100	4.2	4.3	4.3
	April	65,300	59,300	124,600	4.4	4.4	4.4
	May	65,900	59,900	125,800	4.4	4.4	4.4
	June	65,300	60,400	125,700	4.3	4.4	4.4
	July	64,400	64,500	128,800	4.3	4.7	4.5
	August	59,500	58,100	117,700	3.9	4.3	4.1
	September	61,700	56,100	117,800	4.1	4.1	4.1
	October	66,800	54,500	121,300	4.4	4.0	4.2
	November	69,300	54,100	123,400	4.6	4.0	4.3
	December	73,100	56,600	129,700	4.8	4.1	4.5

2025	January	69,100	60,700	129,800	4.5	4.4	4.5
	February	67,200	62,500	129,700	4.4	4.5	4.4
	March	69,100	63,100	132,300	4.5	4.5	4.5
	April	72,400	61,500	133,900	4.7	4.5	4.6
	May	73,300	60,500	133,800	4.7	4.4	4.6
	June	74,800	60,700	135,500	4.8	4.4	4.6
	July	77,900	69,600	147,500	5.0	5.0	5.0
	August	77,100	68,000	145,200	5.0	4.9	4.9
	September	76,600	66,900	143,500	4.9	4.8	4.9
	October	73,700	64,700	138,500	4.7	4.7	4.7
	November	72,200	63,000	135,200	4.6	4.5	4.6
	December	75,200	62,700	137,800	4.8	4.5	4.7

2026	January	76,000	62,400	138,400	4.8	4.5	4.7

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
2024	January	20,700	20,100	40,700	11.0	11.1	11.0
	February	19,900	17,700	37,600	10.6	10.0	10.3
	March	20,500	16,900	37,400	10.9	9.7	10.3
	April	20,700	16,500	37,300	11.0	9.6	10.3
	May	20,400	16,500	36,900	10.8	9.6	10.2
	June	20,000	16,900	36,900	10.5	9.6	10.1
	July	20,300	19,600	39,900	10.5	10.7	10.6
	August	18,700	18,300	37,000	9.8	10.0	9.9
	September	19,800	18,400	38,200	10.3	10.2	10.3
	October	21,800	18,400	40,200	11.4	10.7	11.0
	November	23,800	18,700	42,500	12.4	11.1	11.8
	December	23,900	19,900	43,800	12.5	11.7	12.1

2025	January	20,100	21,100	41,200	10.7	12.2	11.4
	February	19,700	21,600	41,300	10.5	12.3	11.4
	March	20,300	21,400	41,800	10.7	12.1	11.4
	April	21,800	20,500	42,300	11.4	11.6	11.5
	May	21,900	19,500	41,400	11.4	11.1	11.2
	June	22,800	18,900	41,600	11.9	10.8	11.4
	July	24,300	22,000	46,300	12.7	12.5	12.6
	August	25,000	21,500	46,500	13.1	12.4	12.7
	September	24,600	20,800	45,400	12.8	12.0	12.4
	October	22,400	19,800	42,200	11.7	11.4	11.6
	November	22,400	19,300	41,700	11.6	11.0	11.3
	December	23,200	19,500	42,600	11.9	10.9	11.4

2026	January	24,700	19,900	44,600	12.5	11.1	11.8

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
2024	January	43,500	41,500	85,000	3.4	3.6	3.5
	February	40,400	39,600	80,100	3.1	3.4	3.3
	March	41,700	41,000	82,700	3.2	3.5	3.4
	April	44,600	42,800	87,300	3.4	3.6	3.5
	May	45,500	43,400	88,900	3.5	3.7	3.6
	June	45,300	43,500	88,800	3.4	3.7	3.5
	July	44,100	44,800	88,900	3.3	3.8	3.5
	August	40,900	39,800	80,600	3.1	3.4	3.2
	September	41,800	37,700	79,600	3.2	3.2	3.2
	October	45,000	36,100	81,100	3.4	3.0	3.2
	November	45,600	35,400	80,900	3.4	3.0	3.2
	December	49,200	36,700	85,900	3.7	3.1	3.4

2025	January	48,900	39,600	88,600	3.7	3.3	3.5
	February	47,500	40,900	88,400	3.5	3.4	3.5
	March	48,800	41,700	90,500	3.6	3.4	3.5
	April	50,600	41,000	91,600	3.7	3.4	3.6
	May	51,400	41,000	92,400	3.8	3.4	3.6
	June	52,000	41,900	93,900	3.8	3.5	3.7
	July	53,500	47,700	101,200	3.9	3.9	3.9
	August	52,100	46,600	98,700	3.8	3.8	3.8
	September	52,000	46,000	98,000	3.8	3.8	3.8
	October	51,300	44,900	96,200	3.8	3.7	3.7
	November	49,800	43,700	93,500	3.6	3.6	3.6
	December	52,000	43,200	95,200	3.8	3.6	3.7

2026	January	51,300	42,500	93,800	3.7	3.5	3.6

Monthly Unemployment January 2026