The number of persons in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) per week in the State peaked at 605,671 in the week ending 03 May 2020
The number of PUP recipients peaked during the first wave of the pandemic between the weeks ending 12 April 2020 and 10 May 2020 for all 166 Local Electoral Areas (LEAs)
Thurles, Tipperary was the LEA with the largest percentage decrease in PUP recipients from peak at 93.2%
The LEA Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Fingal had the lowest percentage decrease in PUP recipients from its peak (down by 80.4%)
The 20 LEAs with the highest number of PUP recipients during the most recent period analysed (week ending 31 October 2021) were in Dublin
The total number of persons (cumulative) who have been in receipt of the PUP for at least one week between March 2020 and the week ending 31 October 2021 is 871,476
The 14 LEAs with the highest number of cumulative PUP recipients up to 31 October 2021 were in Dublin
The LEA with the lowest number of cumulative PUP recipients to date was Lismore, Waterford
To help users interpret the levels of PUP recipients in each LEA, we have added maps to the release, Map 1 and Map 2. These show the number of PUP recipients in each LEA for the week ending 31 October 2021 and the cumulative number of PUP recipients since the beginning of the scheme respectively.
Map 1 presents the number of recipients of the PUP for the week ending 31 October 2021 by LEA. The lighter colours correspond with the LEAs containing the least number of PUP recipients while the darker areas correspond with the LEAs containing higher numbers of PUP recipients. Users can hover their mouse over the map to see the name of the LEA and the associated number of PUP recipients in the week ending 31 October 2021. Users can also zoom in on the map to see some of the LEAs that are smaller in geographical area.
Map 2 presents the total number of persons (cumulative) who received PUP for at least one week between March 2020 and the week ending 31 October 2021 by LEA. The cumulative number of PUP recipients were centred around urban population centres. North Inner City, Dublin City had the largest number of cumulative PUP recipients at 21,700 while Lismore, Waterford had the least with 1,591 cumulative recipients. Macroom, Cork had the largest cumulative number of PUP recipients outside Dublin with 8,478.
Figure 1 presents the number of recipients of the PUP for each week from March 2020 to the week ending 31 October 2021 for a selection of LEAs. While the levels vary by LEA, each LEA had a similar trend with the three main lockdown periods shown as a separate peak in April/May 2020, November 2020 and January 2021.
Figure 2 presents the number of recipients of the PUP for each week from March 2020 to the week ending 31 October 2021 for the State and separately the cumulative number of PUP recipients by week. The three lockdown periods are evident from the weekly totals but did not translate to similar increases in the cumulative number of recipients. This indicates that increases in the weekly number of PUP recipients observed during the second and third lockdowns represented a return to the PUP scheme by people who had been on it and left it previously.
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting, John Mullane, Statistician, said: "The peak of the number of persons in the State in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) per week was observed in the week ending 03 May 2020 (605,671). The number of weekly PUP recipients for each of the 166 Local Electoral Areas (LEAs) peaked during the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020 or May 2020. The number of weekly PUP recipients peaked during the week ending 03 May 2020 for 156 of the 166 LEAs (94.0%).
Comparing the week ending 31 October 2021 with the same period last year (week ending 01 November 2020) shows the number of PUP recipients was down by 77.5% or 267,899 persons.
The number of PUP recipients has been falling week on week since the week ending 07 February 2021 and stood at 77,806 for the week ending 31 October 2021, which was approximately one in eight (12.8%) of the number seen at the peak in May 2020. There were at most one in five individuals still in receipt of the PUP in each LEA when compared to their respective peaks. These large decreases reflect a continued reopening of society and an end to adding new entrants to the PUP scheme.
Looking at the data by LEA, Thurles in Tipperary has the largest percentage decrease in PUP recipients from its peak (down by 93.2%) followed by Roscrea-Templemore, Tipperary (down by 92.4%), Adare-Rathkeale, Limerick (down by 92.4%) and Carndonagh, Donegal (down by 92.3%). The LEA Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart in Fingal has the lowest percentage decrease in PUP recipients from its peak (down by 80.4%).
The 20 LEAs with the highest number of PUP recipients during the most recent week of analysis (week ending 31 October 2021) were in Dublin. Over one in three (38.5%) of those in receipt of the PUP for that week were in Dublin-based LEAs.
The total number of persons (cumulative) who have been in receipt of the PUP for at least one week between March 2020 and the week ending 31 October 2021 was 871,476. The 14 LEAs with the highest number of cumulative PUP recipients up to 31 October 2021 were in Dublin. The LEA with the lowest number of cumulative PUP recipients to date was Lismore, Waterford."