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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Morgan O'Donnell (+353) 21 453 5269
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

August 2022

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
August 2021179,761169,100
July 2022196,700184,200
August 2022197,125186,100
   
Change in month-+1,900
Change in year+17,364-

The seasonally adjusted Live Register increased by 1.0% to 186,100 over the month to August 2022

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

The unadjusted Live Register total for August 2022 was 197,125 persons; this consisted of 99,036 males (50.2%) and 98,089 females (49.8%). Of those on the Live Register for August 2022, 21,234 or 10.8%, are under 25 years of age, while 175,891 or 89.2%, are 25 years of age and over. See Tables 1a, 1b and 1c.

On an adjusted basis, the number of male and female claimants on the Live Register were 96,400 and 89,700 representing 51.8% and 48.2% of the seasonally adjusted Live Register total respectively. See Table 2a.

There were 11,851 people benefitting from the EU's Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for August 2022, an increase of 1,909 from July 2022.

People arriving in Ireland from Ukraine under the EU's Temporary Protection Directive 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. In the event that a person is on JA for 50 claim paid days or more, they are counted on the Live Register.

Under the Economic Recovery Plan, some previous recipients of PUP transitioned to a jobseeker’s payment and are now appearing on the Live Register. The duration of Live Register claims is currently based on the length of time from the jobseekers (JA/JB) claim commencement date to the last week of the reference month and is presented in Table 6 of this release and in Tables LRM11 and LRM18 on PxStat. Using the current methodology there are 128,855 persons (65.4%) with a claim duration of less than one year (short-term) and 68,270 persons (34.6%) with a claim duration of one year or more (long-term). Taking the duration time on PUP into account sees the proportion of short-term recipients drop to 58.2%1 and the proportion of long-term recipients increase to 41.8%1. Any changes the CSO may make to the methodology for the calculation of duration in the future will be clearly outlined to users in the statistical release and accompanying material.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) or Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA).  Unemployment is measured by the Labour Force Survey.

The Monthly Unemployment Rate (seasonally adjusted) is published in the Monthly Unemployment Release.

1 These percentages were corrected on 05 December 2022.

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of July 2022 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 the Annex Table A1 – Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes table.

There were 32,232 persons availing of these programmes in July 2022, which is a decrease of 1,425 persons (-4.2%) from the previous year, when there were 33,657 persons in activation programmes. 

Persons on activation programmes are not counted as part of the monthly Live Register.

DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
August 202015003975805
September 202013559675896
October 202012844274730
November 202011895375105
December 202011405075810
January 202111090577638
February 202110748379219
March 202110194681150
April 20219684181128
May 20219153980160
June 20219496580316
July 202110450879705
August 20219999179770
September 20218487878020
October 20218919176480
November 20219039674230
December 20219047773379
January 20228993172647
February 20229208771161
March 202211028468712
April 202210948867516
May 202210622565678
June 202211933367486
July 202212776868932
August 202212885568270
Under 25 years25 years and over
August 202031364194480
August 202120496159265
August 202221234175891
Table 1(a) Total persons on the Live Register
CategoryAugust 2021July 2022August 2022Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims16,15325,60325,007-596+8,854
    JA Applications73,31868,23569,191+956-4,127
    Other Registrants5,5154,8624,838-24-677
    Total94,98698,70099,036+336+4,050
 
Females
    JB Claims24,17634,57733,098-1,479+8,922
    JA Applications47,57751,50353,012+1,509+5,435
    Other Registrants13,02211,92011,979+59-1,043
    Total84,77598,00098,089+89+13,314
 
All Persons
    JB Claims40,32960,18058,105-2,075+17,776
    JA Applications120,895119,738122,203+2,465+1,308
    Other Registrants18,53716,78216,817+35-1,720
    Total179,761196,700197,125+425+17,364
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryAugust 2021July 2022August 2022Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,2042,1102,228+118+1,024
    JA Applications9,7658,5588,768+210-997
    Other Registrants321616+0-16
    Total11,00110,68411,012+328+11
 
Females
    JB Claims1,8652,5052,647+142+782
    JA Applications7,6077,4047,555+151-52
    Other Registrants232020+0-3
    Total9,4959,92910,222+293+727
 
All Persons
    JB Claims3,0694,6154,875+260+1,806
    JA Applications17,37215,96216,323+361-1,049
    Other Registrants553636+0-19
    Total20,49620,61321,234+621+738
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryAugust 2021July 2022August 2022Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims14,94923,49322,779-714+7,830
    JA Applications63,55359,67760,423+746-3,130
    Other Registrants5,4834,8464,822-24-661
    Total83,98588,01688,0248.0+4,039
 
Females
    JB Claims22,31132,07230,451-1,621+8,140
    JA Applications39,97044,09945,457+1,358+5,487
    Other Registrants12,99911,90011,959+59-1,040
    Total75,28088,07187,867-204+12,587
 
All Persons
    JB Claims37,26055,56553,230-2,335+15,970
    JA Applications103,523103,776105,880+2,104+2,357
    Other Registrants18,48216,74616,781+35-1,701
    Total159,265176,087175,891-196+16,626
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2020August122,503103,341225,844119,40095,600215,000
 September117,52893,964211,492119,00097,400216,400
 October112,25390,919203,172114,80093,300208,100
 November108,25885,800194,058111,30089,400200,700
 December106,15283,708189,860106,80085,600192,500
 
2021January106,25982,284188,543105,20084,000189,200
 February105,11481,588186,702103,80082,600186,300
 March103,28379,813183,096102,30081,000183,300
 April99,93378,036177,969100,30080,600180,900
 May96,44875,251171,69998,10078,900177,000
 June96,08179,200175,28195,80077,600173,400
 July96,25187,962184,21394,00077,000171,000
 August94,98684,775179,76192,30076,700169,100
 September90,22372,675162,89891,50076,300167,800
 October90,51275,159165,67192,40076,700169,100
 November89,99074,636164,62692,40077,600170,000
 December89,79974,057163,85690,30075,700166,000
 
2022January89,53673,042162,57888,70074,800163,500
 February89,68973,559163,24888,40074,400162,800
 March99,16379,833178,99698,20082,600180,700
 April97,39079,614177,00497,70081,000178,700
 May94,99376,910171,90396,90080,900177,800
 June97,22889,591186,81997,10088,500185,600
 July98,70098,000196,70096,70087,500184,200
 August99,03698,089197,125 96,40089,700186,100
¹ Table contains revised figures
Table 2(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2020August17,10714,25731,36415,90012,60028,500
 September15,96012,81728,77715,90012,70028,500
 October13,85011,02124,87114,30011,30025,600
 November12,98410,23523,21913,80010,90024,600
 December11,9369,06521,00112,5009,90022,400
 
2021January11,9859,03421,01912,1009,60021,700
 February11,8508,91020,76011,8009,30021,100
 March11,6348,66820,30211,6009,10020,700
 April11,1718,45419,62511,3008,90020,300
 May10,8838,15819,04111,0008,60019,700
 June11,0768,85719,93310,8008,30019,100
 July11,0989,61720,71510,6008,10018,700
 August11,0019,49520,49610,2007,80018,000
 September10,0867,86417,95010,0007,70017,700
 October9,8507,53717,38710,1007,70017,900
 November9,6327,32216,95410,1007,80018,000
 December9,3537,04216,3959,8007,80017,600
 
2022January9,5047,24116,7459,6007,80017,400
 February9,4667,29916,7659,4007,80017,300
 March10,0027,41117,41310,0007,90017,800
 April9,7647,35617,1209,9007,90017,800
 May9,5887,23616,8249,8007,80017,600
 June10,3168,98319,29910,1008,30018,400
 July10,6849,92920,61310,2008,40018,500
 August11,01210,22221,234 10,2008,50018,700
¹ Table contains revised figures
Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2020August105,39689,084194,480 103,50083,000186,500
 September101,56881,147182,715 103,20084,700187,900
 October98,40379,898178,301 100,50082,000182,400
 November95,27475,565170,839 97,60078,600176,100
 December94,21674,643168,859 94,30075,800170,000
 
2021January94,27473,250167,524 93,10074,400167,600
 February93,26472,678165,942 92,00073,300165,200
 March91,64971,145162,794 90,70071,900162,700
 April88,76269,582158,344 89,00071,700160,700
 May85,56567,093152,658 87,00070,300157,300
 June85,00570,343155,348 84,90069,300154,300
 July85,15378,345163,498 83,50068,900152,400
 August83,98575,280159,265 82,10068,900151,100
 September80,13764,811144,948 81,50068,600150,100
 October80,66267,622148,284 82,20069,000151,200
 November80,35867,314147,672 82,30069,800152,100
 December80,44667,015147,461 80,50067,900148,300
 
2022January80,03265,801145,833 79,10067,000146,100
 February80,22366,260146,483 79,00066,600145,500
 March89,16172,422161,583 88,20074,700162,900
 April87,62672,258159,884 87,80073,100160,900
 May85,40569,674155,079 87,10073,100160,200
 June86,91280,608167,520 87,00080,200167,200
 July88,01688,071176,087 86,50079,200165,700
 August88,02487,867175,891 86,20081,200167,400
¹ Table contains revised figures
Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register¹
  Males Females All Claimants
  Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register
JB Claims
2021August16,1533,13013,0232,991 24,1763,58320,5935,272 40,3296,71333,6168,263
 September14,9984,29110,7075,078 16,9214,45812,46311,296 31,9198,74923,17016,374
 October15,5743,99011,5843,070 18,9485,68713,2613,268 34,5229,67724,8456,338
 November16,2944,42411,8703,376 19,5085,17514,3334,300 35,8029,59926,2037,676
 December17,2484,15513,0932,851 20,0384,18215,8563,343 37,2868,33728,9496,194
 
2022January17,3063,73013,5763,301 19,5143,67015,8443,914 36,8207,40029,4207,215
 February17,2273,61613,6113,396 19,5523,62715,9253,316 36,7797,24329,5366,712
 March28,18615,60612,5804,161 26,95112,25614,6954,402 55,13727,86227,2758,563
 April27,2543,73323,5214,296 27,1184,39922,7193,919 54,3728,13246,2408,215
 May25,7093,51422,1954,553 24,9513,38221,5695,138 50,6606,89643,7649,691
 June25,2664,99920,2674,868 29,7819,61020,1714,245 55,04714,60940,4389,113
 July25,6034,92720,6764,070 34,5779,08625,4913,667 60,18014,01346,1677,737
 August25,0074,05520,9524,008 33,0984,76728,3315,502 58,1058,82249,2839,510
JA Applications
2021August73,3183,38469,9344,675 47,5772,75744,8203,968 120,8956,141114,7548,643
 September69,8434,37165,4728,161 43,2883,48439,8048,077 113,1317,855105,27616,238
 October69,5655,36064,2055,924 43,7924,75239,0404,528 113,35710,112103,24510,452
 November68,4124,27964,1335,722 42,9373,23039,7074,310 111,3497,509103,84010,032
 December67,3393,53463,8054,909 41,8902,59839,2923,868 109,2296,132103,0978,777
 
2022January67,1063,51963,5874,101 41,5742,68338,8913,242 108,6806,202102,4787,343
 February67,3884,65362,7354,641 42,1483,69038,4583,316 109,5368,343101,1937,957
 March66,0334,17761,8565,970 41,2043,14038,0644,416 107,2377,31799,92010,386
 April65,2393,34461,8954,475 40,8582,71538,1433,294 106,0976,059100,0387,769
 May64,4133,63560,7784,936 40,4132,86937,5443,676 104,8266,50498,3228,612
 June67,1167,49859,6185,329 48,13411,03137,1033,730 115,25018,52996,7219,059
 July68,2354,99863,2374,360 51,5036,50245,0013,649 119,73811,500108,2388,009
 August69,1914,69564,4964,333 53,0124,97448,0384,045 122,2039,669112,5348,378
Other Registrants
2021August5,515715,444184 13,02215112,871438 18,53722218,315622
 September5,3821045,278293 12,46616412,302830 17,84826817,5801,123
 October5,3731095,264176 12,41919712,222356 17,79230617,486532
 November5,284725,212199 12,19114612,045464 17,47521817,257663
 December5,212735,139191 12,12918911,940339 17,34126217,079530
 
2022January5,124765,048184 11,95415011,804364 17,07822616,852548
 February5,074794,995159 11,85916711,692334 16,93324616,687493
 March4,944724,872252 11,67813511,543437 16,62220716,415689
 April4,897664,831144 11,63817511,463296 16,53524116,294440
 May4,871924,779151 11,54616811,378307 16,41726016,157458
 June4,846994,747164 11,67632711,349312 16,52242616,096476
 July4,8621004,762123 11,92037411,546237 16,78247416,308360
 August4,838634,775137 11,97918711,792291 16,81725016,567428
All Schemes
2021August94,9866,58588,4017,850 84,7756,49178,2849,678 179,76113,076166,68517,528
 September90,2238,76681,45713,532 72,6758,10664,56920,203 162,89816,872146,02633,735
 October90,5129,45981,0539,170 75,15910,63664,5238,152 165,67120,095145,57617,322
 November89,9908,77581,2159,297 74,6368,55166,0859,074 164,62617,326147,30018,371
 December89,7997,76282,0377,951 74,0576,96967,0887,550 163,85614,731149,12515,501
 
2022January89,5367,32582,2117,586 73,0426,50366,5397,520 162,57813,828148,75015,106
 February89,6898,34881,3418,196 73,5597,48466,0756,966 163,24815,832147,41615,162
 March99,16319,85579,30810,383 79,83315,53164,3029,255 178,99635,386143,61019,638
 April97,3907,14390,2478,915 79,6147,28972,3257,509 177,00414,432162,57216,424
 May94,9937,24187,7529,640 76,9106,41970,4919,121 171,90313,660158,24318,761
 June97,22812,59684,63210,361 89,59120,96868,6238,287 186,81933,564153,25518,648
 July98,70010,02588,6758,553 98,00015,96282,0387,553 196,70025,987170,71316,106
 August99,0368,81390,2238,478 98,0899,92888,1619,838 197,12518,741178,38418,316
1 Flow analysis: inflows and outflows published in this table do not take account of inter-scheme activity within the Live Register. For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim this is counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA.
Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions¹August 2021July 2022August 2022Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
      Northern and Western17,66218,87619,114+2381,4521,87117,243
      Border9,3109,91510,055+140+7459999,056
      West8,3528,9619,059+98+7078728,187
        
      Southern 30,69431,61332,047+434+1,3533,44828,599
      Mid-West9,8129,98610,084+98+2721,1108,974
      South-East10,22710,42210,545+123+3181,2619,284
      South-West10,65511,20511,418+213+7631,07710,341
        
     Eastern and Midland43,67545,91845,909-09+2,2345,12340,786
      Dublin24,87226,37926,320-59+1,4482,87023,450
      Mid-East11,98012,56612,555-11+5751,40711,148
      Midland6,8236,9737,034+61+2118466,188
      Total94,98698,70099,036+336+4,05011,01288,024
 
Females
      Northern and Western16,14618,94519,469+5243,3231,90317,566
      Border8,2229,5329,848+316+1,6269988,850
      West7,9249,4139,621+208+1,6979058,716
        
      Southern 27,62132,53332,898+365+5,2773,42929,469
      Mid-West8,3099,7429,777+35+1,4681,1608,617
      South-East9,07710,18710,271+84+1,1941,0679,204
      South-West10,23512,60412,850+246+2,6151,20211,648
        
     Eastern and Midland37,74643,46343,486+23+5,7404,27439,212
      Dublin19,90823,09223,111+19+3,2032,19620,915
      Mid-East11,49713,35013,342-08+1,8451,25712,085
      Midland6,3417,0217,033+12+6928216,212
      Total84,77598,00098,089+89+13,31410,22287,867
 
All Persons
      Northern and Western33,80837,82138,583+7624,7753,77434,809
      Border17,53219,44719,903+456+2,3711,99717,906
      West16,27618,37418,680+306+2,4041,77716,903
        
      Southern 58,31564,14664,945+799+6,6306,87758,068
      Mid-West18,12119,72819,861+133+1,7402,27017,591
      South-East19,30420,60920,816+207+1,5122,32818,488
      South-West20,89023,80924,268+459+3,3782,27921,989
        
     Eastern and Midland81,42189,38189,395+14+7,9749,39779,998
      Dublin44,78049,47149,431-40+4,6515,06644,365
      Mid-East23,47725,91625,897-19+2,4202,66423,233
      Midland13,16413,99414,067+73+9031,66712,400
      Total179,761196,700197,125+425+17,36421,234175,891
¹ The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes
2 From January 2018, registrations which have yet not being assigned to a DSP local office of registration are included in the Live Register Totals. These registrations are not included in individual NUTS3/ NUTS2 totals in this table
Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
Broad occupational groupAugust 2021July 2022August 2022Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
Managers and administrators3,9953,5483,585+37-410713,514
Professional4,3083,8953,971+76-3372253,746
Associate professional and technical 3,0452,1392,127-12-9181252,002
Clerical and secretarial5,0974,6434,747+104-3503384,409
Craft and related 19,28017,39117,344-47-1,9361,17716,167
Personal and protective service5,9895,3145,297-17-6924554,842
Sales5,1724,4244,432+8-7407463,686
Plant and machine operatives15,39513,36613,272-94-2,1231,19112,081
Other occupation13,98012,57312,523-50-1,4571,13611,387
No occupation¹18,72531,40731,738+331+13,0135,54826,190
Total 94,98698,70099,036+336+4,05011,01288,024
 
Females
Managers and administrators3,3073,1993,224+25-83643,160
Professional7,3077,1507,447+297+1404766,971
Associate professional and technical 2,5221,9431,921-22-601781,843
Clerical and secretarial16,27517,43917,210-229+93576916,441
Craft and related 3,7823,7263,705-21-773983,307
Personal and protective service13,44412,52212,276-246-1,16897211,304
Sales9,0857,9798,034+55-1,0511,0916,943
Plant and machine operatives6,1585,4385,435-3-7235134,922
Other occupation5,6165,0245,113+89-5036114,502
No occupation¹17,27933,58033,724+144+16,4455,25028,474
Total84,77598,00098,089+89+13,31410,22287,867
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators7,3026,7476,809+62-4931356,674
Professional11,61511,04511,418+373-19770110,717
Associate professional and technical 5,5674,0824,048-34-1,5192033,845
Clerical and secretarial21,37222,08221,957-125+5851,10720,850
Craft and related 23,06221,11721,049-68-2,0131,57519,474
Personal and protective service19,43317,83617,573-263-1,8601,42716,146
Sales14,25712,40312,466+63-1,7911,83710,629
Plant and machine operatives21,55318,80418,707-97-2,8461,70417,003
Other occupation19,59617,59717,636+39-1,9601,74715,889
No occupation¹36,00464,98765,462+475+29,45810,79854,664
Total 179,761196,700197,125+425+17,36421,234175,891
¹ Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
DurationAugust 2021July 2022August 2022Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
   Less than one year47,48859,78760,536+749+13,0488,37752,159
   One year or more47,49838,91338,500-413-8,9982,63535,865
   Total94,98698,70099,036+336+4,05011,01288,024
 
Females
   Less than one year52,50367,98168,319+338+15,8168,35559,964
   One year or more32,27230,01929,770-249-2,5021,86727,903
   Total84,77598,00098,089+89+13,31410,22287,867
 
All Persons
   Less than one year99,991127,768128,855+1,087+28,86416,732112,123
   One year or more79,77068,93268,270-662-11,5004,50263,768
   Total179,761196,700197,125+425+17,36421,234175,891
Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
  MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
        
2020August17,412-351 19,269-189 36,681-540
 September17,305-107 19,557+288 36,862+181
 October19,678+2,373 22,310+2,753 41,988+5,126
 November19,692+14 22,050-260 41,742-246
 December19,304-388 21,454-596 40,758-984
 
2021January19,142-162 20,815-639 39,957-801
 February18,984-158 20,303-512 39,287-670
 March18,498-486 19,811-492 38,309-978
 April17,451-1,047 18,710-1,101 36,161-2,148
 May15,769-1,682 17,030-1,680 32,799-3,362
 June15,070-699 16,807-223 31,877-922
 July14,053-1,017 15,884-923 29,937-1,940
 August13,158-895 15,039-845 28,197-1,740
 September12,657-501 14,512-527 27,169-1,028
 October12,294-363 14,354-158 26,648-521
 November11,982-312 14,449+95 26,431-217
 December11,785-197 14,231-218 26,016-415
 
2022January11,370-415 13,809-422 25,179-837
 February11,297-73 13,865+56 25,162-17
 March11,246-51 13,986+121 25,232+70
 April11,305+59 13,917-69 25,222-10
 May11,142-163 13,722-195 24,864-358
 June11,121-21 14,160+438 25,281+417
 July11,167+46 14,516+356 25,683+402
 August11,114-53 14,597+81 25,711+28
Table 8 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping
  Nationality grouping
  Non-Irish nationals     
  United KingdomEU14_2020 excl. IRL 1EU15-EU27_2020 1Other  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
2020August8,4903,70421,40610,980 44,580181,264225,844
 September8,0503,41420,5699,756 41,789169,703211,492
 October7,7913,39620,2658,333 39,785163,387203,172
 November7,4883,18919,2037,494 37,374156,684194,058
 December7,3343,02118,6367,076 36,067153,793189,860
 
2021January7,3522,93318,6887,121 36,094152,449188,543
 February7,3012,86818,4367,071 35,676151,026186,702
 March7,2012,81018,1306,953 35,094148,002183,096
 April7,0202,69917,4756,855 34,049143,920177,969
 May6,7132,53416,6166,597 32,460139,239171,699
 June6,8152,53116,3706,781 32,497142,784175,281
 July6,9632,48816,5056,872 32,828151,385184,213
 August6,7712,42716,1926,829 32,219147,542179,761
 September6,2442,22615,4056,523 30,398132,500162,898
 October6,3872,31515,9386,779 31,419134,252165,671
 November6,3652,39716,1346,980 31,876132,750164,626
 December6,2982,35015,9516,620 31,219132,637163,856
 
2022January6,3162,31915,8836,620 31,138131,440162,578
 February6,2922,36216,0506,752 31,456131,792163,248
 March6,6672,83419,6418,371 37,513141,483178,996
 April6,5722,77219,1228,213 36,679140,325177,004
 May6,3892,61518,2668,239 35,509136,394171,903
 June6,6382,70518,06615,475 42,884143,935186,819
 July6,7862,77617,96118,343 45,866150,834196,700
 August6,7222,72317,37620,255 47,076150,049197,125
1 In light of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union with effect from 1 February 2020, the EU classification has been updated. EU14_2020 excl. IRL before February 2020 was formally classified as EU15 excl. IRL & UK. EU15-EU27_2020 before February 2020 was formally classified as EU15 to EU28 States.
Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes5
 July 2021June 2022July 2022
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand2,3812,4442,444
Short-term Enterprise Allowance1 191361334
Total Back to Work payments 2,5722,8052,778
 
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive240130115
TÚS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011)4,7685,0245,208
Work Placement Experience Programme22365390
Total Other Activation Programmes5,0105,5195,713
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)19,19619,03218,834
 
SOLAS (FÁS) Full Time Training for Unemployed People3,8634,0843,631
     
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)3540863838
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)42,4761,097438
Total Back to Education Courses3,0161,9601,276
     
Total Activation Programmes33,65733,40032,232
1 This scheme was introduced from 1st May 2009. It provides immediate support for someone in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit who wants to start a business.
2This scheme was introduced in July 2021. The Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) is a 6-month, 30 hour per week voluntary work experience programme. 
3 Starting from January 2019, VTOS figures for 2018 and 2019 are being supplied directly from the new SOLAS computer system PLSS. VTOS figures were estimated at 5,000 per month to December 2017.
4 BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays. In 2020 and 2021 some BTEA recipients were paid for the summer period.
5 Figures related to May 2022 onwards are recorded on a slightly different basis, in respect of the record date, and the exclusion of suspended payments.
Annex Table A2 - Live Register total classified by Recipient and Non-recipient
  RecipientsNon-RecipientsTotal
2020August181,07944,765225,844
 September172,41939,073211,492
 October166,76636,406203,172
 November166,59127,467194,058
 December168,37221,488189,860
 
2021January164,96023,583188,543
 February165,93020,772186,702
 March163,58719,509183,096
 April160,29817,671177,969
 May156,66615,033171,699
June156,17219,109175,281
 July164,16120,052184,213
 August162,86316,898179,761
 September 148,69614,202162,898
 October 148,04117,630165,671
 November147,43617,190164,626
 December151,47012,386163,856
 
2022January149,29613,282162,578
 February148,00015,248163,248
 March164,11714,879178,996
 April159,60517,399177,004
 May156,69215,211171,903
 June166,06220,757186,819
 July175,92920,771196,700
 August 179,34817,777197,125

Background Notes

Source and scope of the Live Register

The Live Register is compiled from returns made for each local office to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) by the Department of Social Protection (DSP).  It comprises of persons under 65 years of age in the following classes:

  • All Claimants for Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) excluding systematic short-time workers
  • Applicants for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) excluding smallholders/farm assists and other self-employed persons
  • Other registrants including applicants for credited Social Welfare contributions but excluding those directly involved in an industrial dispute.

The Live Register excludes those claimants on Jobseeker schemes who are 65 years of age and over. There was no change to this exclusion criterion with the removal of the State Pension (Transition) Scheme from 01 January 2014. Persons aged 65 years can remain on a Jobseeker scheme up to their next birthday but are not included in the Live Register.

Prior to January 2017, the DSP provided tabulated claimant counts directly to the CSO to facilitate production of the Live Register. These claimant counts were grouped by age, gender, occupation, nationality, duration, region, county and local welfare office. Data provided in this fashion is available from 1967 to December 2016.

Beginning with January 2017, the Live Register has been produced using claimant microdata from the DSP Integrated Short Term Scheme (ISTS) database. Claimants are determined to be on the Live Register if they fulfil the Live Register criteria and such persons are summarised and cross-tabulated to produce the counts published in the Live Register release.

As claimant count microdata was retrospectively available to January 2012, previously published Live Register data for this period were revised with data produced from the claimant microdata. These revisions were generally minor in nature and are included in this release as well as all relevant PxStat tables.

Reference Periods

The reference month for the Live Register refers to the week (Monday-Sunday) of the last Thursday in the month. Prior to May 2015, the reference period for the Live Register referred to the week of the last Friday in the month.

Standardised unemployment rates

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) series, previously in Table 3, has been discontinued from May 2015. It has been replaced by the Monthly Unemployment series which was published on 31 August 2022.

Labour Force Survey 

The Labour Force Survey (LFS), was launched in January 2018 with the publication of Quarter 3 2017 data (Q3 2017). The LFS replaced the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS).

The LFS provides quarterly estimates of the unemployment rate.

The calendar reference quarters for survey results are:
Q1 - January to March, Q2 - April to June, Q3 - July to September and Q4 - October to December.

Seasonal Adjustment

Since January 2011 the seasonal adjustment of the Live Register is completed by applying the X-12-ARIMA model, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Seasonal adjustment is conducted using the indirect approach, where each individual series is independently adjusted (male under 25 years, female under 25 years, male 25 years and over and female 25 years and over). To preserve consistency between the individual and aggregate series, the series for gender, age group and total Live Register are then created from these four component series.

The X-12 ARIMA method has the X-11 moving averages process at its core, but builds on this by providing options for pre-treating the series using a regARIMA approach for prior adjustment and series extension. In essence this methodology will estimate seasonal factors while taking account of temporary changes, outliers, level shifts and calendar effects (e.g timing of Easter).

All Live Register seasonally adjusted series from January 2010 are subject to update on a monthly basis. Revisions to the series are typically very minor in scale.

Seasonally adjusting the Live Register series impacted by the Covid-19 crisis will be challenging until the scale and shape of its impact on the time series is better understood. This initial seasonally adjusted result might be revised for some months ahead as future observations become available. Users should be aware that there is increased uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during this period.

For additional information on the use of X-12-ARIMA see Live Register - January 2011 in the January 2011 Live Register release.

Jobseeker’s Benefit Duration

Prior to 19 January 2004 Jobseeker’s Benefit was payable for 15 months (390 days).

From 19 January 2004, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 15 months (390 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

From 15 October 2008, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions.

As of 3 April 2013, Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who have 260 paid PRSI contributions. Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 6 months (156 days) to people who have less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

Claimants getting Jobseeker’s Benefit for 6 months or more on 3 April 2013 (or 3 months for people with fewer than 260 contributions) will not be affected.

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)

The One-Parent Family Payment is a social welfare payment for men and women who are younger than 66 and bring up children without the support of a partner and meet certain other criteria. Claimants on this scheme are not counted as part of the Live Register.

From July 2013 new rules came into operation reducing the age limits for the One-Parent Family Payment. This means that some people no longer qualify for the payment and may avail of other schemes or supports.

As a consequence, approximately 2,800 people in July 2013, 1,300 people in July 2014 and 2,786 people in July 2015, previously receiving the One-Parent Family Payment, made a claim for Jobseekers Allowance (JA) and will therefore appear on the Live Register.

For information on the age-related changes to the OFP scheme from July 2013, please see the DSP website:

Live Register Flows

Live Register flows are calculated by analysing persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the reference month compared to those on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month. The flows are calculated as follows:

Joined Live Register: Persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were not present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Stayed on Live Register: Persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were also present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Left Live Register: Persons not on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Inflows and outflows published in this release relate to persons moving on or off the Live Register. Inter-scheme movement is not counted as a Live Register flow. For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim, this is not counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA. The person has moved scheme but has not joined nor left the Live Register. Thus, those persons who move schemes from one month to the next are counted as “Stayed on the Live Register”.

Live Register Area Analysis

The basis of the area analysis in Live Register statistics is the DSP local office of registration.  The areas served by Local Employment Offices do not correspond to specific geographic boundaries.  Therefore, registrants at a given local office do not necessarily come from a particular region or area which can be precisely delineated e.g. data for the Cork City Local Offices of Registration refers to all persons signing on in Cork City but may include persons not resident in Cork City. 

From January 2018, registrations which have not yet been assigned to a DSP local office of registration are included in the Live Register totals. Therefore, as these registrations are not included in the regional breakdowns, the sum of these regions may not add to the Live Register totals.

The latest available Live Register data by Province, County and Local Office of Registration are published on the CSO website, through PxStat.

NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions

The regional classifications in this release are based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) classification used by Eurostat. Until Q4 2017, the NUTS3 regions corresponded to the eight Regional Authorities established under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993, which came into operation on 1 January 1994 while the NUTS2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed by Eurostat in 1999, were groupings of those historic NUTS3 regions.

However, the NUTS3 boundaries were amended on 21 November 2016 under Regulation (EC) No. 2066/2016 and have come into force from Q1 2018. These new groupings are reflected in the LFS results from Q1 2018 onwards. The changes resulting from the amendment are that County Louth has moved from the Border to the Mid-East and what was formerly South Tipperary has moved from the South-East to the Mid-West, resulting in the new NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions:

Northern & Western NUTS2 Region Southern NUTS2 Region Eastern & Midland NUTS2 Region
Border Cavan Mid-West Clare Dublin Dublin City
  Donegal   Limerick    Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
  Leitrim   Tipperary   Fingal
  Monaghan       South Dublin
  Sligo        
    South-East Carlow Mid-East Kildare
West Galway   Kilkenny   Meath
  Mayo   Waterford   Wicklow
  Roscommon   Wexford   Louth
           
        Midland Laois
    South-West Cork    Longford
      Kerry   Offaly
          Westmeath

Occupations

Live Register occupational data is sourced from information collected by the DSP on the most recent occupation of claimants when they sign on the Live Register.  The classification used is based on the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).  “No occupation” is an additional category and includes those who have never worked and those who have no stated occupation.

Age by Duration Analysis

Detailed tables relating to regional and scheme data are available on the CSO website through the CSO Main Data Dissemination Service, PxStat.

Casual and part-time workers

The number of claimants on the Live Register who work on a casual and /or part-time basis is supplied by the DSP. People who work for part of a week may be eligible for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance and may also be included on the Live Register, if the DSP is satisfied that they are not in full-time employment, are available for work and are looking for full-time employment.  

Nationality

Data in the nationality grouping table is sourced from information collected by the DSP on the nationality of claimants when they first sign on the Live Register.

Live Register: Recipient versus non-recipient claims

The Live Register measures the numbers of claims registered for Jobseekers Benefit (JB) Jobseekers Allowance (JA) or credited contributions.

The Live Register can be considered as consisting of recipients, where a claim has been awarded and the person is in receipt of a payment or credited PRSI contributions, and non-recipients, where the person is not in receipt of a payment. Non-recipient claims include:

  • Awarded claims where payment has been suspended
  • Claims pending award
  • Disallowed claims

While most Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) recipients were not counted on the Live Register, the payment had an impact on Live Register trends. There were cases where both a PUP and jobseeker claim belonging to the same person were registered with the DSP, but where no jobseeker payment was made. This resulted in overlaps between the PUP (where they were a recipient) and the Live Register (where they were a non-recipient). In cases where PUP claims transferred to the Live Register, this meant a decrease in PUP without an equivalent increase in the Live Register. In cases of PUP exits to employment, non-recipient Live Register claims were identified and closed where appropriate.

Please see Technical Note – Live Register August 2020 for further information.

A table providing a breakdown of Live Register claimants by recipient and non-recipient status is available in Annex Table A2 in this release, while the corresponding series from January 2012 onwards is also available on PxStat.

For further information or assistance use the contact details below or e-mail labour@cso.ie

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