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E-mail: labour@cso.ie Marie O'Connor/ Sheila Bulman (+353) 21 453 5298/ 21 453 5222 Catalina Gonzalez (+353) 21 453 5163
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

December 2019

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
December 2018199,669203,300
November 2019177,554186,400
December 2019181,996185,300
   
Change in month-- 1,100
Change in year- 17,673-

Seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreases by 1,100 in December

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
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On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1,100 (-0.6%) in December 2019 bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 185,300. The number of persons on the Live Register in December 2019 is the lowest number recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since January 2008. See table 2(a) and Live Register Series.

In unadjusted terms there were 181,996 persons signing on the Live Register in December 2019. This represents an annual decrease of 17,673 (-8.9%) since December 2018. See table 1(a).

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 400 (-0.4%) for males in December 2019, while females decreased by 600 (-0.7%) over the same period. See table 2(a).

  • On an unadjusted basis, the number of male claimants decreased by 9,536 (-8.5%) to 102,878 in the year to December 2019, while female claimants decreased by 8,137 (-9.3%) to 79,118. This compares with an annual decrease in the year to December 2018 of 22,915 (-16.9%) to 112,414 for males, while female claimants decreased by 13,684 (-13.6%) to 87,255 in the same period.  See table 2(a).

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. 
0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
December 201713835097918
January 201813937998007
February 201813877096574
March 201813763394733
April 201813089392709
May 201812880594697
June 201813328794778
July 201814092393522
August 201813318991969
September 201811932486406
October 201811624982998
November 201811570480557
December 201812012779542
January 201912061779010
February 201911952177413
March 201911630076107
April 201911817874940
May 201911362976238
June 201911991677192
July 201912973876658
August 201912328875805
September 201911218971594
October 201911131369146
November 201910955268002
December 201911443867558

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in December 2019 was 67,558. The number of male long term claimants decreased by 7,456 (-15.8%) in the year to December 2019, while females decreased by 4,528 (-14.0%), giving an overall annual decrease of 11,984 (-15.1%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 6 and figure 2.

In December 2019, 62.9% (114,438) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants. The comparable figure for December 2018 was 60.2% (120,127). The annual fall of 5,689 (-4.7%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 2,080 (-3.2%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 3,609 (-6.6%) in female short term claimants. See table 6.

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 36,816 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in December 2019, which represents 20.2% of the total Live Register. This compares with 20.9% one year earlier when there were 41,751 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register. In the year to December 2019 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 4,935 (-11.8%), with the number of males decreasing by 2,594 (-12.7%) and the number of females decreasing by 2,341 (-10.9%). See table 7.

Under 25 years25 years and over
December 201724675211593
December 201819921179748
December 201918469163527

Live Register age groups

In the year to December 2019 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 16,221 (-9.0%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 1,452 (-7.3%). Annual decreases in persons aged under 25 have occurred in all months since July 2010. The percentage of persons aged under 25 on the Live Register now stands at 10.1% for December 2019, up from 10.0% in December 2018 and down from 10.4% in December 2017. See tables 2(b) and 2(c) and figure 3.

Live Register new registrants

There were 15,006 new registrants on the Live Register in December 2019, consisting of 7,888 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims, 6,625 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) applications, and 493 “Other Registrants”. Males accounted for 53.9% (8,082) and females accounted for 46.1% (6,924) of all new registrants. JB claims represented 52.6% of all new registrations, while JA applications and “Other Registrants” represented 44.1% and 3.3% respectively.  See table 3.

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (16.9%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in December 2019. The number in the group fell over the year by 2,884 to 30,828. The Plant and machine operatives group had the largest annual percentage decrease (-13.0%). The Sales group had the second largest annual percentage decrease (-12.4%) in December 2019. See table 5 and figure 4.

The two smallest occupational groups in December 2019 were the Associate professional and technical and Managers and administrators groups which accounted for 3.5% and 5.4% of the Live Register respectively. See table 5 and figure 4.

Broad Occupational GroupDecember 2017December 2018December 2019
111493103399838
2142611239911919
3766768486380
4257902240520722
5416223371230828
6316112706024183
7236311947017050
8368133093126918
9291022446122805
10142781204411353
KEY  
1- Managers and administrators
2- Professional
3- Associate professional and technical
4- Clerical and secretarial
5- Craft and related
6- Personal and Protective service
7- Sales
8- Plant and machine operatives
9- Other occupation
10- No occupation

Live Register by other classifications

Other points which can be noted include:

  • An annual decrease of 16,473 (-11.8%) brought the total number of JA applicants to 122,810 in December 2019, while JB claimants increased to 37,427 (+4.2%) over the same period.  As a result, JA applicants account for 67.5% of all persons on the Live Register in December 2019 compared with 69.8% a year earlier. See table 1(a).
  • Annual decreases occurred in all the eight NUTS 3 regions with the largest percentage decrease occurring in the South-West region (-11.4%) followed by the West region (-10.1%).See table 4.
  • In December 2019, Irish nationals accounted for 82.0% (149,203) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 32,793 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (17,368), followed by the UK (7,140). See table 8.

1 While the ‘No Occupation’ group is excluded from the analysis its subtotals are included in the relevant calculations presented in the text.

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of November 2019 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 48,737 persons availing of these programmes in November 2019, which is a decrease of 5,367 persons (-9.9%) from the previous year, when there were 54,104 persons in activation programmes. 

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

Table 1(a) Total persons on the Live Register
CategoryDecember 2018November 2019December 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims16,86216,86718,309+1,442+1,447
    JA Applications87,72977,04877,836+788-9,893
    Other Registrants7,8236,7446,733-11-1,090
    Total112,414100,659102,878+2,219-9,536
 
Females
    JB Claims19,06017,20419,118+1,914+58
    JA Applications51,55444,69444,974+280-6,580
    Other Registrants16,64114,99715,026+29-1,615
    Total87,25576,89579,118+2,223-8,137
 
All Persons
    JB Claims35,92234,07137,427+3,356+1,505
    JA Applications139,283121,742122,810+1,068-16,473
    Other Registrants24,46421,74121,759+18-2,705
    Total199,669177,554181,996+4,442-17,673
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 1(a) (XLS 35KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryDecember 2018November 2019December 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,0041,1651,181+16+177
    JA Applications10,7369,7859,876+91-860
    Other Registrants585043-7-15
    Total11,79811,00011,100+100-698
 
Females
    JB Claims9369251,002+77+66
    JA Applications7,1356,3876,315-72-820
    Other Registrants525052+2+0
    Total8,1237,3627,369+7-754
 
All Persons
    JB Claims1,9402,0902,183+93+243
    JA Applications17,87116,17216,191+19-1,680
    Other Registrants11010095-5-15
    Total19,92118,36218,469+107-1,452
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 1(b) (XLS 34KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryDecember 2018November 2019December 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims15,85815,70217,128+1,426+1,270
    JA Applications76,99367,26367,960+697-9,033
    Other Registrants7,7656,6946,690-4-1,075
    Total100,61689,65991,778+2,119-8,838
 
Females
    JB Claims18,12416,27918,116+1,837-08
    JA Applications44,41938,30738,659+352-5,760
    Other Registrants16,58914,94714,974+27-1,615
    Total79,13269,53371,749+2,216-7,383
 
All Persons
    JB Claims33,98231,98135,244+3,263+1,262
    JA Applications121,412105,570106,619+1,049-14,793
    Other Registrants24,35421,64121,664+23-2,690
    Total179,748159,192163,527+4,335-16,221
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 1(c) (XLS 34KB)
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Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2017December135,329100,939236,268136,900103,700240,600
 
2018January136,735100,651237,386135,300102,700238,000
 February135,333100,011235,344133,600101,700235,300
 March132,58199,785232,366131,600100,700232,300
 April128,34995,253223,602129,30099,200228,500
 May127,69995,803223,502127,00097,900225,000
 June126,981101,084228,065124,40096,300220,800
 July126,252108,193234,445122,70095,100217,700
 August123,354101,804225,158120,60093,700214,200
 September115,89089,840205,730118,00092,700210,700
 October112,39786,850199,247116,60091,700208,300
 November110,83685,425196,261114,90090,700205,600
 December112,41487,255199,669113,60089,600203,300
 
2019January113,15486,473199,627111,80088,400200,200
 February111,31785,617196,934109,90087,200197,200
 March109,13083,277192,407108,80086,400195,200
 April107,76585,353193,118108,10086,800194,900
 May107,01882,849189,867106,60085,000191,600
 June108,27388,835197,108106,20084,400190,600
 July108,93697,460206,396105,90084,400190,300
 August107,84991,244199,093105,40083,500188,900
 September103,54880,235183,783105,40083,200188,500
 October100,96179,498180,459104,70084,000188,700
 November100,65976,895177,554104,30082,000186,400
 December102,87879,118181,996 103,90081,400185,300
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 2(a) (XLS 39KB)
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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
2017December14,51110,16424,67515,50011,30026,700
 
2018January15,14910,47525,62415,30011,00026,300
 February15,14310,50425,64715,10010,80025,800
 March14,80610,23225,03814,90010,50025,400
 April14,3379,78424,12114,60010,30025,000
 May14,48910,14624,63514,40010,20024,600
 June14,65810,79025,44814,0009,90023,900
 July14,61911,36925,98813,7009,80023,500
 August14,58311,05025,63313,5009,60023,100
 September13,2759,39522,67013,2009,30022,500
 October12,3928,66321,05513,0009,20022,200
 November11,8328,18020,01212,7009,10021,900
 December11,7988,12319,92112,6009,00021,600
 
2019January12,3088,56920,87712,4009,00021,400
 February12,2448,62420,86812,2008,80021,000
 March12,0308,42020,45012,1008,70020,800
 April11,6788,27119,94911,9008,60020,500
 May11,8918,45620,34711,8008,50020,300
 June12,2939,25521,54811,8008,50020,300
 July12,5009,99022,49011,8008,60020,300
 August12,7269,74522,47111,8008,40020,200
 September11,9498,39320,34211,9008,30020,200
 October11,1997,71918,91811,8008,30020,000
 November11,0007,36218,36211,8008,20020,000
 December11,1007,36918,469 11,8008,20020,000
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table(2b) (XLS 39KB)
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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
2017December120,81890,775211,593 121,50092,400213,900
 
2018January121,58690,176211,762 120,10091,700211,800
 February120,19089,507209,697 118,60090,900209,400
 March117,77589,553207,328 116,80090,100206,900
 April114,01285,469199,481 114,70088,800203,600
 May113,21085,657198,867 112,70087,700200,400
 June112,32390,294202,617 110,40086,500196,900
 July111,63396,824208,457 108,90085,300194,200
 August108,77190,754199,525 107,10084,100191,200
 September102,61580,445183,060 104,80083,400188,200
 October100,00578,187178,192 103,60082,400186,000
 November99,00477,245176,249 102,20081,600183,700
 December100,61679,132179,748 101,10080,600181,700
 
2019January100,84677,904178,750 99,40079,400178,800
 February99,07376,993176,066 97,80078,400176,200
 March97,10074,857171,957 96,80077,600174,400
 April96,08777,082173,169 96,20078,200174,400
 May95,12774,393169,520 94,80076,500171,300
 June95,98079,580175,560 94,50075,900170,400
 July96,43687,470183,906 94,10075,900170,000
 August95,12381,499176,622 93,70075,100168,700
 September91,59971,842163,441 93,50074,800168,300
 October89,76271,779161,541 93,00075,800168,700
 November89,65969,533159,192 92,50073,800166,300
 December91,77871,749163,527 92,10073,200165,300
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 2(c) (XLS 40KB)
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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
2018December16,8623,51713,3451,727 19,0603,99015,0701,684 35,9227,50728,4153,411
 
2019January17,8254,92712,8983,466 18,9334,39714,5364,166 36,7589,32427,4347,632
 February17,5123,43614,0763,346 18,8473,35915,4883,049 36,3596,79529,5646,395
 March16,8913,09813,7933,290 17,6722,54115,1313,310 34,5635,63928,9246,600
 April17,0223,62313,3993,074 19,9975,55714,4402,791 37,0199,18027,8395,865
 May15,9513,75012,2014,305 17,2733,60313,6705,856 33,2247,35325,87110,161
 June16,5883,68612,9022,678 20,9976,48714,5102,272 37,58510,17327,4124,950
 July17,5904,11313,4772,619 27,5959,40118,1942,355 45,18513,51431,6714,974
 August17,1883,86313,3253,718 22,9493,69119,2587,791 40,1377,55432,58311,509
 September16,6563,81812,8383,908 17,2353,18414,0518,522 33,8917,00226,88912,430
 October16,6234,59812,0254,011 18,4535,32613,1273,573 35,0769,92425,1527,584
 November16,8674,05812,8093,357 17,2043,37313,8314,280 34,0717,43126,6407,637
 December18,3093,85514,4541,922 19,1184,03315,0851,765 37,4277,88829,5393,687
JA Applications
2018December87,7294,16683,5634,208 51,5542,64548,9092,815 139,2836,811132,4727,023
 
2019January87,6175,97281,6456,545 51,2683,88847,3804,471 138,8859,860129,02511,016
 February86,1734,90481,2696,688 50,6313,23847,3934,155 136,8048,142128,66210,843
 March84,7114,31280,3996,153 49,6942,63747,0573,862 134,4056,949127,45610,015
 April83,2484,10979,1395,930 49,2832,99046,2933,700 132,5317,099125,4329,630
 May83,7257,47376,2527,447 49,8625,14844,7144,907 133,58712,621120,96612,354
 June84,3956,34778,0486,008 51,8825,15146,7313,451 136,27711,498124,7799,459
 July84,0825,00479,0785,748 53,3254,62448,7013,476 137,4079,628127,7799,224
 August83,5245,49278,0326,535 52,1433,61748,5265,162 135,6679,109126,55811,697
 September79,9275,66474,2639,656 47,5513,37944,1728,242 127,4789,043118,43517,898
 October77,4485,89571,5538,905 45,6413,93941,7026,205 123,0899,834113,25515,110
 November77,0485,22871,8206,041 44,6943,06941,6254,260 121,7428,297113,44510,301
 December77,8364,07873,7583,728 44,9742,54742,4272,529 122,8106,625116,1856,257
Other Registrants
2018December7,8231677,656336 16,64134216,299649 24,46450923,955985
 
2019January7,7122367,476382 16,27230815,964740 23,98454423,4401,122
 February7,6321467,486290 16,13932315,816571 23,77146923,302861
 March7,5281157,413268 15,91123415,677581 23,43934923,090849
 April7,4951627,333253 16,07348015,593462 23,56864222,926715
 May7,3421397,203354 15,71430815,406803 23,05644722,6091,157
 June7,2901267,164219 15,95649715,459425 23,24662322,623644
 July7,2641977,067283 16,54087115,669441 23,8041,06822,736724
 August7,1371556,982342 16,15232215,830895 23,28947722,8121,237
 September6,9651296,836347 15,44926315,1861,072 22,41439222,0221,419
 October6,8901956,695358 15,40449814,906723 22,29469321,6011,081
 November6,7441326,612322 14,99727714,720782 21,74140921,3321,104
 December6,7331496,584213 15,02634414,682407 21,75949321,266620
All Schemes
2018December112,4147,850104,5646,271 87,2556,97780,2785,148 199,66914,827184,84211,419
 
2019January113,15411,135102,01910,393 86,4738,59377,8809,377 199,62719,728179,89919,770
 February111,3178,486102,83110,324 85,6176,92078,6977,775 196,93415,406181,52818,099
 March109,1307,525101,6059,711 83,2775,41277,8657,753 192,40712,937179,47017,464
 April107,7657,89499,8719,257 85,3539,02776,3266,953 193,11816,921176,19716,210
 May107,01811,36295,65612,106 82,8499,05973,79011,566 189,86720,421169,44623,672
 June108,27310,15998,1148,905 88,83512,13576,7006,148 197,10822,294174,81415,053
 July108,9369,31499,6228,650 97,46014,89682,5646,272 206,39624,210182,18614,922
 August107,8499,51098,33910,595 91,2447,63083,61413,848 199,09317,140181,95324,443
 September103,5489,61193,93713,911 80,2356,82673,40917,836 183,78316,437167,34631,747
 October100,96110,68890,27313,274 79,4989,76369,73510,501 180,45920,451160,00823,775
 November100,6599,41891,2419,720 76,8956,71970,1769,322 177,55416,137161,41719,042
 December102,8788,08294,7965,863 79,1186,92472,1944,701 181,99615,006166,99010,564
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.
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 3 (XLS 69KB)
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Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions¹December 2018November 2019December 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
      Northern and Western22,46519,96820,377+409-2,0882,10818,269
      Border11,63310,51310,709+196-9241,1969,513
      West10,8329,4559,668+213-1,1649128,756
 
      Southern 38,73234,34835,442+1,094-3,2903,90331,539
      Mid-West12,06310,70610,933+227-1,1301,2919,642
      South-East12,72011,81012,180+370-5401,50910,671
      South-West13,94911,83212,329+497-1,6201,10311,226
 
     Eastern and Midland51,11446,16746,824+657-4,2905,05741,767
      Dublin28,29325,61625,812+196-2,4812,69223,120
      Mid-East14,41112,89813,202+304-1,2091,44711,755
      Midland8,4107,6537,810+157-6009186,892
      Total112,414100,659102,878+2,219-9,53611,10091,778
 
Females
      Northern and Western18,31316,13216,538+406-1,7751,52315,015
      Border9,3748,2688,431+163-9438797,552
      West8,9397,8648,107+243-8326447,463
 
      Southern 30,39626,24927,455+1,206-2,9412,70024,755
      Mid-West8,8697,7057,945+240-9248517,094
      South-East10,1279,0419,378+337-7491,0238,355
      South-West11,4009,50310,132+629-1,2688269,306
 
     Eastern and Midland38,46234,34634,904+558-3,5583,11331,791
      Dublin19,36917,64117,625-16-1,7441,43016,195
      Mid-East11,99310,59910,970+371-1,02394310,027
      Midland7,1006,1066,309+203-7917405,569
      Total87,25576,89579,118+2,223-8,1377,36971,749
 
All Persons
      Northern and Western40,77836,10036,915+815-3,8633,63133,284
      Border21,00718,78119,140+359-1,8672,07517,065
      West19,77117,31917,775+456-1,9961,55616,219
 
      Southern 69,12860,59762,897+2,300-6,2316,60356,294
      Mid-West20,93218,41118,878+467-2,0542,14216,736
      South-East22,84720,85121,558+707-1,2892,53219,026
      South-West25,34921,33522,461+1,126-2,8881,92920,532
 
     Eastern and Midland89,57680,51381,728+1,215-7,8488,17073,558
      Dublin47,66243,25743,437+180-4,2254,12239,315
      Mid-East26,40423,49724,172+675-2,2322,39021,782
      Midland15,51013,75914,119+360-1,3911,65812,461
      Total2199,669177,554181,996+4,442-17,67318,469163,527
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 DEASP local office of registration are included in the Live Register Totals. These registrations are not included in individual NUTS3/ NUTS2 totals in this table
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 4 (XLS 44KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
Broad occupational groupDecember 2018November 2019December 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
Managers and administrators5,6915,2725,355+83-336985,257
Professional5,2754,8905,088+198-1872434,845
Associate professional and technical 3,6963,3633,415+52-2812813,134
Clerical and secretarial5,6945,0055,308+303-3864604,848
Craft and related 28,50825,36925,951+582-2,5572,07123,880
Personal and protective service8,9677,9108,148+238-8197887,360
Sales7,0776,1486,165+17-9121,2294,936
Plant and machine operatives22,33719,26619,728+462-2,6092,06617,662
Other occupation17,99016,62816,904+276-1,0862,02914,875
No occupation¹7,1796,8086,816+8-3631,8354,981
Total 112,414100,659102,878+2,219-9,53611,10091,778
 
Females
Managers and administrators4,6484,4434,483+40-165624,421
Professional7,1246,3986,831+433-2932466,585
Associate professional and technical 3,1522,9252,965+40-1871402,825
Clerical and secretarial16,71114,20115,414+1,213-1,29754914,865
Craft and related 5,2044,8404,877+37-3275214,356
Personal and protective service18,09315,50916,035+526-2,0581,67814,357
Sales12,39310,94310,885-58-1,5081,4159,470
Plant and machine operatives8,5947,1607,190+30-1,4047366,454
Other occupation6,4715,8805,901+21-5708665,035
No occupation¹4,8654,5964,537-59-3281,1563,381
Total87,25576,89579,118+2,223-8,1377,36971,749
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators10,3399,7159,838+123-5011609,678
Professional12,39911,28811,919+631-48048911,430
Associate professional and technical 6,8486,2886,380+92-4684215,959
Clerical and secretarial22,40519,20620,722+1,516-1,6831,00919,713
Craft and related 33,71230,20930,828+619-2,8842,59228,236
Personal and protective service27,06023,41924,183+764-2,8772,46621,717
Sales19,47017,09117,050-41-2,4202,64414,406
Plant and machine operatives30,93126,42626,918+492-4,0132,80224,116
Other occupation24,46122,50822,805+297-1,6562,89519,910
No occupation¹12,04411,40411,353-51-6912,9918,362
Total 199,669177,554181,996+4,442-17,67318,469163,527
¹ Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 5 (XLS 44KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
DurationDecember 2018November 2019December 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
   Less than one year65,31660,79663,236+2,440-2,0808,58754,649
   One year or more47,09839,86339,642-221-7,4562,51337,129
   Total112,414100,659102,878+2,219-9,53611,10091,778
 
Females
   Less than one year54,81148,75651,202+2,446-3,6095,81045,392
   One year or more32,44428,13927,916-223-4,5281,55926,357
   Total87,25576,89579,118+2,223-8,1377,36971,749
 
All Persons
   Less than one year120,127109,552114,438+4,886-5,68914,397100,041
   One year or more79,54268,00267,558-444-11,9844,07263,486
   Total199,669177,554181,996+4,442-17,67318,469163,527
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 6 (XLS 34KB)
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Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
  MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
2017December26,120-70 25,039-115 51,159-185
 
2018January25,555-565 24,676-363 50,231-928
 February25,459-96 24,858+182 50,317+86
 March24,909-550 24,557-301 49,466-851
 April24,188-721 23,939-618 48,127-1,339
 May23,493-695 23,424-515 46,917-1,210
 June22,872-621 23,116-308 45,988-929
 July22,290-582 22,855-261 45,145-843
 August21,492-798 22,102-753 43,594-1,551
 September20,719-773 21,405-697 42,124-1,470
 October20,309-410 21,344-61 41,653-471
 November20,286-23 21,473+129 41,759+106
 December20,348+62 21,403-70 41,751-8
 
2019January20,079-269 21,161-242 41,240-511
 February20,090+11 21,174+13 41,264+24
 March19,803-287 20,956-218 40,759-505
 April19,280-523 20,403-553 39,683-1,076
 May18,502-778 19,894-509 38,396-1,287
 June18,259-243 19,856-38 38,115-281
 July17,915-344 19,671-185 37,586-529
 August17,543-372 19,236-435 36,779-807
 September17,408-135 18,703-533 36,111-668
 October17,320-88 18,629-74 35,949-162
 November17,562+242 18,964+335 36,526+577
 December17,754+192 19,062+98 36,816+290
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 7 (XLS 41KB)
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Table 8 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping
  Nationality grouping
  Non-Irish nationals     
  United KingdomEU15 excl. IRL & UKEU15 to EU28 StatesOther  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
2017December9,1182,85622,6796,671 41,324194,944236,268
 
2018January9,2202,98723,3096,693 42,209195,177237,386
 February9,1242,93023,1676,787 42,008193,336235,344
 March9,0072,78222,7066,761 41,256191,110232,366
 April8,6952,64621,8346,699 39,874183,728223,602
 May8,7552,64721,3707,024 39,796183,706223,502
 June8,8262,63021,1027,335 39,893188,172228,065
 July8,9462,61021,0287,312 39,896194,549234,445
 August8,6452,60020,1937,149 38,587186,571225,158
 September7,9652,42618,9106,504 35,805169,925205,730
 October7,7962,42818,6016,107 34,932164,315199,247
 November7,7872,50518,6325,983 34,907161,354196,261
 December7,9042,49719,2116,003 35,615164,054199,669
 
2019January7,8692,58819,4506,020 35,927163,700199,627
 February7,7652,59519,2385,948 35,546161,388196,934
 March7,5572,43818,8735,948 34,816157,591192,407
 April7,4722,43618,4815,953 34,342158,776193,118
 May7,4042,39318,0276,232 34,056155,811189,867
 June7,5902,46718,0606,545 34,662162,446197,108
 July7,8202,55418,1266,735 35,235171,161206,396
 August7,6672,49217,7886,696 34,643164,450199,093
 September7,0532,37217,4176,538 33,380150,403183,783
 October6,9582,26516,7855,921 31,929148,530180,459
 November6,9352,31816,8355,837 31,925145,629177,554
 December7,1402,39517,3685,890 32,793149,203181,996
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 Table 8 (XLS 43KB)
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Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes
 November 2018October 2019November 2019
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand6,7364,2904,192
Short-term Enterprise Allowance1 334324315
Total Back to Work payments 7,0704,6144,507
 
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive301208213
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 6,5795,6435,729
Gateway (2013)2100
Total Other Activation Programmes6,8815,8515,942
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)21,48721,18921,279
 
FAS (Solas) Full Time Training for Unemployed People6,3956,0536,909
     
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)33,0922,8422,816
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)49,1797,0657,284
Total Back to Education Courses 12,2719,90710,100
     
Total Activation Programmes54,10447,61448,737
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.
2Gateway Scheme closed in December 2018.
3Starting 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.
4BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays. Includes MOMENTUM participants from February 2013.
Open in Excel: Live Register December 2019 - Annex (XLS 37KB)
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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 by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP).  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 1st 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 DEASP 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 DEASP 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 Statbank tables.

Reference Period

The reference periods for the Live Register results are as follows:

December 2019 – 1st December to 28th December 2019

December 2018 – 2nd December to 29th December 2018

From May 2015 (reference period) the reference period refers to the week of the last Thursday in the month, previously the reference period referred to the week of the last Friday in the month.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Allowance and or Jobseekers Benefit.  Monthly unemployment is measured by the Monthly Unemployment release and quarterly unemployment is measured by the Labour Force Survey (formerly the Quarterly National Household Survey).

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 is published two days before the Live Register.

Labour Force Survey 

The Labour Force Survey (LFS), was launched in January 2018 with the publication of Quarter 3 2017 data (Q3 2017). The Labour Force survey 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 series are updated monthly with the latest three years of seasonally adjusted data as part of the concurrent approach. The comprehensive annual review contains revisions to the entire series. Revisions to the series are typically very minor in scale.

For additional information on the use of X-12-ARIMA see detailed note 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 following link to the DEASP website:

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/278_One-Parent-Family-Payment.aspx

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 DEASP 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 yet not being assigned to a DEASP 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 the CSO StatBank, on the publication of this release, see link here.

 

NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions

The regional classifications in this release is 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 21st of 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 City & County   Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
  Leitrim   Tipperary   Fingal
  Monaghan       South Dublin
  Sligo        
    South-East Carlow Mid-East Kildare
West Galway City   Kilkenny   Meath
  Galway County   Waterford City & County   Wicklow
  Mayo   Wexford   Louth
  Roscommon        
        Midland Laois
    South-West Cork City   Longford
      Cork County   Offaly
      Kerry   Westmeath

 

Occupations

Live Register occupational data is sourced from information collected by the DEASP 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, StatBank, to see these please click here

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 DEASP. 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 DEASP 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 DEASP on the nationality of claimants when they first sign on the Live Register.

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

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Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregisterdecember2019/

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
(+353) 21 453 5000
E-Mail:
information@cso.ie

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