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Monthly Unemployment May 2025

The Monthly Unemployment rate for May 2025 was 4.0%, down from 4.1% in April 2025

Online ISSN: 2009-8456

CSO statistical release, 05 June 2025, 11am

Key Findings

In May 2025, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.0%, which was down from a rate of 4.1% in April 2025. On an annual basis, the unemployment rate of 4.0% was down from a rate of 4.4% in May 2024.
Breaking down the results by sex, the monthly unemployment rate in May 2025 was 3.9% for males, down from a rate of 4.0% in April 2025, and down from the rate of 4.4% recorded in May 2024.
The monthly unemployment rate in May 2025 was 4.1% for females, down from a rate of 4.2% in April 2025, and down from a rate of 4.4% in May 2024.
In terms of age, the monthly unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 years (Youth Unemployment Rate) was 10.9%, down from a revised rate of 11.2% in April 2025.
The monthly unemployment rate for people aged 25-74 years was 3.1%, up from 3.0% in April 2025.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (05 June 2025) published Monthly Unemployment Estimates results for May 2025.

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 May 2025 was 4.0%, a decrease from 4.1% in April 2025 and 4.4% in May 2024. In May 2025, the unemployment rate for males was 3.9% and for females was 4.1%.

The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed was 118,600 in May 2025, compared with 118,800 in April 2025. There was a fall of 6,900 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in May 2025 when compared with May 2024.

The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed males fell to 60,400 in May 2025, compared with 60,600 in April 2025. The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed females in May 2025, at 58,200, was unchanged from the April 2025 figure.”

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 May 2025 have incorporated the LFS benchmarks up to Q1 2025 for the monthly estimates up to March 2025. The estimates for April and May 2025 have been forecasted. Forecasted figures are subject to revision.

Key Figures

Seasonally Adjusted Monthly Unemployment
	Number of persons unemployed	Unemployment rate (%)
May 2024	125,500	4.4
April 2025	118,800	4.1
May 2025	118,600	4.0
	Number	Percentage points
Change in month	-200	-0.1
Change in year	-6,900	-0.4

Open in Excel: Monthly Unemployment May 2025 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
2023	May	62,000	53,000	115,000	4.3	4.0	4.1
	June	65,400	54,800	120,200	4.5	4.1	4.3
	July	67,000	54,400	121,400	4.6	4.1	4.4
	August	67,900	55,100	123,000	4.6	4.2	4.4
	September	68,300	59,900	128,200	4.6	4.5	4.6
	October	65,800	62,100	127,800	4.4	4.7	4.5
	November	62,900	62,300	125,200	4.2	4.7	4.4
	December	62,600	62,200	124,800	4.2	4.7	4.4

2024	January	62,400	61,900	124,300	4.2	4.6	4.4
	February	59,400	55,700	115,100	4.0	4.2	4.1
	March	61,300	58,000	119,400	4.1	4.3	4.2
	April	65,200	59,600	124,800	4.4	4.4	4.4
	May	65,600	59,900	125,500	4.4	4.4	4.4
	June	65,800	60,200	125,900	4.4	4.4	4.4
	July	66,700	64,700	131,400	4.4	4.7	4.6
	August	60,900	58,400	119,300	4.0	4.3	4.1
	September	62,500	57,100	119,600	4.1	4.2	4.2
	October	66,300	54,900	121,300	4.4	4.0	4.2
	November	67,900	53,800	121,700	4.5	4.0	4.2
	December	72,000	56,700	128,700	4.7	4.1	4.4

2025	January	69,500	61,400	130,900	4.6	4.4	4.5
	February	67,700	60,800	128,500	4.4	4.4	4.4
	March	65,500	63,200	128,700	4.3	4.5	4.4
	April	60,600	58,200	118,800	4.0	4.2	4.1
	May	60,400	58,200	118,600	3.9	4.1	4.0

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
2023	May	18,300	17,300	35,600	10.2	9.7	9.9
	June	19,400	18,400	37,800	10.8	10.4	10.6
	July	20,300	18,600	38,900	11.3	10.6	11.0
	August	21,000	19,100	40,100	11.6	11.1	11.3
	September	21,300	21,700	43,000	11.6	12.2	11.9
	October	19,800	21,500	41,300	10.6	11.9	11.2
	November	18,900	21,400	40,200	10.0	11.7	10.9
	December	19,100	20,800	39,800	10.1	11.4	10.7

2024	January	19,500	20,600	40,100	10.4	11.4	10.9
	February	19,200	17,500	36,700	10.3	9.9	10.1
	March	19,600	17,200	36,800	10.5	9.8	10.1
	April	20,100	16,600	36,700	10.6	9.5	10.1
	May	20,200	16,400	36,600	10.6	9.4	10.0
	June	20,200	16,600	36,800	10.6	9.4	10.0
	July	22,200	19,400	41,600	11.5	10.6	11.1
	August	20,000	17,900	37,900	10.4	10.0	10.2
	September	20,400	18,800	39,200	10.7	10.5	10.6
	October	21,400	18,400	39,800	11.2	10.7	11.0
	November	22,200	18,700	40,900	11.7	11.0	11.4
	December	23,700	20,200	44,000	12.4	11.8	12.1

2025	January	21,600	22,500	44,200	11.4	12.8	12.1
	February	20,300	21,800	42,100	10.7	12.4	11.5
	March	16,500	21,000	37,500	8.9	11.9	10.3
	April	20,300	20,700	41,000	10.6	11.8	11.2
	May	19,900	20,100	40,000	10.4	11.5	10.9

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
2023	May	43,700	35,700	79,400	3.4	3.1	3.3
	June	46,000	36,500	82,400	3.6	3.2	3.4
	July	46,700	35,900	82,500	3.6	3.1	3.4
	August	46,900	36,000	82,900	3.6	3.1	3.4
	September	47,000	38,200	85,200	3.6	3.3	3.5
	October	46,000	40,600	86,600	3.6	3.5	3.5
	November	44,000	40,900	84,900	3.4	3.6	3.5
	December	43,500	41,400	84,900	3.4	3.6	3.5

2024	January	42,900	41,300	84,100	3.3	3.6	3.4
	February	40,200	38,200	78,400	3.1	3.3	3.2
	March	41,800	40,800	82,600	3.2	3.5	3.4
	April	45,100	43,000	88,100	3.5	3.7	3.6
	May	45,400	43,500	89,000	3.5	3.7	3.6
	June	45,600	43,500	89,100	3.5	3.7	3.6
	July	44,500	45,300	89,800	3.4	3.8	3.6
	August	40,900	40,500	81,400	3.1	3.4	3.2
	September	42,100	38,300	80,400	3.2	3.2	3.2
	October	45,000	36,500	81,500	3.4	3.1	3.2
	November	45,700	35,100	80,800	3.4	2.9	3.2
	December	48,300	36,500	84,700	3.6	3.0	3.3

2025	January	47,900	38,900	86,800	3.6	3.2	3.4
	February	47,400	39,000	86,400	3.5	3.2	3.4
	March	49,000	42,200	91,300	3.6	3.5	3.6
	April	40,300	37,400	77,800	3.0	3.1	3.0
	May	40,500	38,100	78,600	3.0	3.1	3.1

Monthly Unemployment May 2025