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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Sabrina Bowen (+353) 21 453 5151 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

May 2018

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
May 2017262,702264,000
April 2018223,602229,000
May 2018223,502224,900
   
Change in month-- 4,100
Change in year- 39,200-

Seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreases by 4,100 in May

Live Register seasonally adjusted
go to full release

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 4,100 (-1.8%) in May 2018, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 224,900. The number of persons on the Live Register in May 2018 is also the lowest number recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since July 2008. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 223,502 persons signing on the Live Register in May 2018. This represents an annual decrease of 39,200 (-14.9%). See table 1(a).

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 2,700 (-2.1%) males in May 2018, while females decreased by 1,400 (-1.4%) over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 24,761 (-16.2%) to 127,699 in the year to May 2018, while female claimants decreased by 14,439 (-13.1%) to 95,803. This compares with a decrease of 28,772 (-15.9%) to 152,460 for males, while female claimants decreased by 15,348 (-12.2%) to 110,242 in the year to May 2017. See table 1(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
May 2016166397140425
June 2016171883143771
July 2016177093141902
August 2016175760140258
September 2016155532130571
October 2016151993124816
November 2016151452121708
December 2016156651119851
January 2017157629119263
February 2017158045117048
March 2017153245113957
April 2017151610111807
May 2017148930113772
June 2017153521115205
July 2017160457113928
August 2017152457111799
September 2017138980105339
October 2017134902101590
November 201713430498905
December 201713835097918
January 201813937998007
February 201813877096574
March 201813763394733
April 201813089392709
May 201812880594697

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in May 2018 was 94,697. The number of male long term claimants decreased by 12,999 (-18.7%) in the year to May 2018, while females decreased by 6,076 (-13.7%), giving an overall annual decrease of 19,075 (-16.8%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 6 and figure 2.

In May 2018, 57.6% (128,805) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for May 2017 was 56.7% (148,930). The annual fall of 20,125 (-13.5%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 11,762 (-14.2%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 8,363 (-12.7%) in female short term claimants. See table 6.

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 46,917 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in May 2018, which represents 21.0% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 21.7% one year earlier when there were 56,966 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to May 2018 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 10,049 (-17.6%), with the number of males decreasing by 5,924 (-20.1%) and the number of females decreasing by 4,125 (-15.0%). See table 7.

Under 25 years25 years and over
May 201637662269160
May 201730253232449
May 201824635198867

Live Register age groups

In the year to May 2018 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 33,582 (-14.4%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 5,618 (-18.6%).  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 11.0% for May 2018, down from 11.5% in May 2017 and 12.3% in May 2016. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and figure 3.

Live Register new registrants

There were 23,121 new registrants on the Live Register in May 2018, consisting of 15,225 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) claims, 7,301 Jobseekers Benefit (JB) claims and 595 “Other Registrants”. Males accounted for 55.6% (12,851) and females 44.4% (10,270) of all new registrants. JA claims represented 65.8% of all new registrations, while JB claims and “Other Registrants” represented 31.6% and 2.6% respectively.  See table 3.

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (17.3%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in May. The number in the group fell over the year by 8,731 to 38,737 and had the largest annual percentage decrease (-18.4%). The Sales group was the second largest annual percentage decrease (-18.2%).

The two smallest occupational groups in May were the Associate professional and technical and the Managers and administrators groups which accounted for 3.3% and 5.0% of the Live Register respectively. See table 5 and figure 4.

 

 

 

Broad Occupational GroupMay 2016May 2017May 2018
1138241229911133
2172091510013212
3908383957459
4299412696123685
5578754746838737
6393193379129098
7342172887223629
8493404169934826
9370343164227681
10189801647514042
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 34,765 (-17.7%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 162,092 in May 2018, while JB claimants decreased to 35,047 (-3.8%) over the same period.  As a result, JA claimants account for 72.5% of all persons on the Live Register in May 2018 compared with 74.9% 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 Midland region (-18.3%) followed by the Mid-West region (-16.3%). See table 4.
  • In May, Irish nationals accounted for 82.2% (183,706) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 39,796 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (21,370), followed by the UK (8,755). See table 8.

 

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of April 2018 on the number of people 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 – Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes table.

There were 58,900 people availing of these programmes in April 2018, which is a decrease of 7,899 persons (-11.8%) from the previous year, when there were 66,799 people 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
CategoryMay 2017April 2018May 2018Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims17,45917,68116,972-709-487
    JA Applications124,992101,887102,106+219-22,886
    Other Registrants10,0098,7818,621-160-1,388
    Total152,460128,349127,699-650-24,761
 
Females
    JB Claims18,97818,35118,075-276-903
    JA Applications71,86558,96159,986+1,025-11,879
    Other Registrants19,39917,94117,742-199-1,657
    Total110,24295,25395,803+550-14,439
 
All Persons
    JB Claims36,43736,03235,047-985-1,390
    JA Applications196,857160,848162,092+1,244-34,765
    Other Registrants29,40826,72226,363-359-3,045
    Total262,702223,602223,502-100-39,200
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 1(a) (XLS 35KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2017April 2018May 2018Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,0531,1731,129-44+76
    JA Applications16,45713,08613,289+203-3,168
    Other Registrants867871-7-15
    Total17,59614,33714,489+152-3,107
 
Females
    JB Claims971937911-26-60
    JA Applications11,6148,7769,172+396-2,442
    Other Registrants727163-8-9
    Total12,6579,78410,146+362-2,511
 
All Persons
    JB Claims2,0242,1102,040-70+16
    JA Applications28,07121,86222,461+599-5,610
    Other Registrants158149134-15-24
    Total30,25324,12124,635+514-5,618
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 1(b) (XLS 34KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2017April 2018May 2018Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims16,40616,50815,843-665-563
    JA Applications108,53588,80188,817+16-19,718
    Other Registrants9,9238,7038,550-153-1,373
    Total134,864114,012113,210-802-21,654
 
Females
    JB Claims18,00717,41417,164-250-843
    JA Applications60,25150,18550,814+629-9,437
    Other Registrants19,32717,87017,679-191-1,648
    Total97,58585,46985,657+188-11,928
 
All Persons
    JB Claims34,41333,92233,007-915-1,406
    JA Applications168,786138,986139,631+645-29,155
    Other Registrants29,25026,57326,229-344-3,021
    Total232,449199,481198,867-614-33,582
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 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
2016May181,232125,590306,822180,100128,100308,100
 June181,980133,674315,654177,400127,900305,300
 July180,414138,581318,995174,900124,900299,900
 August178,515137,503316,018172,800125,500298,300
 September166,522119,581286,103169,700122,300292,000
 October161,307115,502276,809168,000121,100289,100
 November158,996114,164273,160165,600120,500286,000
 December160,588115,914276,502163,100119,200282,300
 
2017January161,365115,527276,892160,200118,000278,200
 February159,748115,345275,093157,900117,200275,100
 March155,716111,486267,202155,400115,000270,400
 April152,653110,764263,417153,200113,200266,500
 May152,460110,242262,702151,300112,700264,000
 June152,665116,061268,726148,600110,600259,300
 July151,513122,872274,385146,600109,700256,300
 August148,265115,991264,256143,100104,400247,500
 September140,120104,199244,319143,400107,200250,500
 October135,968100,524236,492142,300106,200248,500
 November133,95999,250233,209139,900105,100245,100
 December135,329100,939236,268137,500104,000241,500
 
2018January136,735100,651237,386135,600102,900238,500
 February135,333100,011235,344133,500101,700235,100
 March132,58199,785232,366131,600100,900232,500
 April128,34995,253223,602129,30099,700229,000
 May127,69995,803223,502 126,60098,300224,900
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 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
2016May22,17215,49037,66222,00015,60037,600
 June22,75416,76539,51921,50015,40036,900
 July22,60617,23739,84321,10015,10036,200
 August22,34717,13439,48120,70014,90035,600
 September19,99814,51734,51519,90014,20034,100
 October18,80613,40232,20819,70014,10033,900
 November18,06012,75230,81219,40014,00033,400
 December17,89012,39530,28519,00013,70032,700
 
2017January18,46012,93631,39618,70013,60032,300
 February18,39813,07831,47618,40013,40031,800
 March18,11012,73930,84918,20013,30031,600
 April17,34012,38529,72517,70013,00030,700
 May17,59612,65730,25317,40012,70030,200
 June18,02313,70931,73217,10012,50029,600
 July17,94914,28832,23716,80012,50029,200
 August17,87013,81331,68316,60012,10028,600
 September16,43612,03528,47116,40011,80028,200
 October15,40411,02926,43316,10011,70027,800
 November14,61510,33624,95115,70011,30027,100
 December14,51110,16424,67515,50011,20026,700
 
2018January15,14910,47525,62415,30011,00026,400
 February15,14310,50425,64715,10010,80025,900
 March14,80610,23225,03814,90010,60025,400
 April14,3379,78424,12114,60010,40025,000
 May14,48910,14624,635 14,40010,20024,600
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 2(b) (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
2016May159,060110,100269,160 158,100112,500270,500
 June159,226116,909276,135 155,800112,600268,400
 July157,808121,344279,152 153,800109,900263,700
 August156,168120,369276,537 152,100110,600262,700
 September146,524105,064251,588 149,800108,100257,900
 October142,501102,100244,601 148,300106,900255,200
 November140,936101,412242,348 146,100106,500252,600
 December142,698103,519246,217 144,100105,600249,600
 
2017January142,905102,591245,496 141,500104,400245,900
 February141,350102,267243,617 139,500103,700243,200
 March137,60698,747236,353 137,100101,700238,900
 April135,31398,379233,692 135,500100,300235,800
 May134,86497,585232,449 133,800100,000233,800
 June134,642102,352236,994 131,50098,100229,600
 July133,564108,584242,148 129,90097,200227,100
 August130,395102,178232,573 126,60092,300218,900
 September123,68492,164215,848 127,00095,300222,300
 October120,56489,495210,059 126,20094,500220,700
 November119,34488,914208,258 124,20093,800218,000
 December120,81890,775211,593 122,10092,800214,800
 
2018January121,58690,176211,762 120,20091,900212,100
 February120,19089,507209,697 118,30090,900209,200
 March117,77589,553207,328 116,70090,300207,000
 April114,01285,469199,481 114,60089,400204,000
 May113,21085,657198,867 112,20088,100200,300
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 2(c) (XLS 39KB)
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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
2017May17,45911,6015,85814,211 18,97812,8756,10314,933 36,43724,47611,96129,144
 June17,6484,05813,5903,358 22,3266,97915,3472,936 39,97411,03728,9376,294
 July18,1903,77414,4162,688 27,8328,32019,5122,270 46,02212,09433,9284,958
 August17,3453,40213,9433,675 23,4413,88219,5597,644 40,7867,28433,50211,319
 September16,1572,98913,1683,752 18,2623,03315,2297,776 34,4196,02228,39711,528
 October16,0283,22512,8032,898 17,6093,07914,5303,182 33,6376,30427,3336,080
 November16,6554,24712,4083,079 18,1694,07414,0952,951 34,8248,32126,5036,030
 December17,9463,37814,5681,629 19,8873,82216,0651,677 37,8337,20030,6333,306
 
2018January19,2904,54014,7502,845 20,0624,24215,8203,858 39,3528,78230,5706,703
 February19,2003,77615,4243,404 20,2783,51216,7662,904 39,4787,28832,1906,308
 March18,8683,97314,8953,736 20,9734,75516,2183,519 39,8418,72831,1137,255
 April17,6813,22814,4533,924 18,3512,81715,5344,963 36,0326,04529,9878,887
 May16,9723,59113,3813,771 18,0753,71014,3653,423 35,0477,30127,7467,194
JA Applications
2017May124,99251,93373,05927,041 71,86532,67739,18818,283 196,85784,610112,24745,324
 June125,38610,294115,09210,312 74,1417,58066,5615,775 199,52717,874181,65316,087
 July123,6826,133117,5498,292 74,9205,19269,7284,776 198,60211,325187,27713,068
 August121,4027,056114,3469,843 72,9534,61668,3376,998 194,35511,672182,68316,841
 September114,6716,295108,37613,403 67,0424,11062,93210,332 181,71310,405171,30823,735
 October110,7446,184104,56010,497 64,1803,86660,3147,109 174,92410,050164,87417,606
 November108,1637,162101,00110,208 62,4854,29958,1866,382 170,64811,461159,18716,590
 December108,2734,584103,6894,886 62,4532,87759,5763,216 170,7267,461163,2658,102
 
2018January108,4585,919102,5396,107 62,1763,72558,4514,184 170,6349,644160,99010,291
 February107,1365,946101,1907,660 61,4193,55157,8684,588 168,5559,497159,05812,248
 March104,8265,56899,2588,370 60,5833,74956,8344,972 165,4099,317156,09213,342
 April101,8874,70597,1828,073 58,9612,98555,9764,942 160,8487,690153,15813,015
 May102,1069,06793,0399,329 59,9866,15853,8285,526 162,09215,225146,86714,855
Other Registrants
2017May10,0093,0116,9981,178 19,3994,77414,6252,125 29,4087,78521,6233,303
 June9,6312399,392717 19,59470218,892730 29,22594128,2841,447
 July9,6412489,393329 20,12086019,260513 29,7611,10828,653842
 August9,5182269,292413 19,59750719,0901,245 29,11573328,3821,658
 September9,2922039,089482 18,89538118,5141,203 28,18758427,6031,685
 October9,1962238,973386 18,73538518,350717 27,93160827,3231,103
 November9,1412788,863408 18,59642618,170741 27,73770427,0331,149
 December9,1102158,895292 18,59941718,182534 27,70963227,077826
 
2018January8,9872278,760330 18,41343917,974650 27,40066626,734980
 February8,9972158,782277 18,31435917,955568 27,31157426,737845
 March8,8871908,697375 18,22943317,796674 27,11662326,4931,049
 April8,7811578,624326 17,94125217,689680 26,72240926,3131,006
 May8,6211938,428399 17,74240217,340773 26,36359525,7681,172
All Schemes
2017May152,46066,54585,91542,430 110,24250,32659,91635,341 262,702116,871145,83177,771
 June152,66514,591138,07414,387 116,06115,261100,8009,441 268,72629,852238,87423,828
 July151,51310,155141,35811,309 122,87214,372108,5007,559 274,38524,527249,85818,868
 August148,26510,684137,58113,931 115,9919,005106,98615,887 264,25619,689244,56729,818
 September140,1209,487130,63317,637 104,1997,52496,67519,311 244,31917,011227,30836,948
 October135,9689,632126,33613,781 100,5247,33093,19411,008 236,49216,962219,53024,789
 November133,95911,687122,27213,695 99,2508,79990,45110,074 233,20920,486212,72323,769
 December135,3298,177127,1526,807 100,9397,11693,8235,427 236,26815,293220,97512,234
 
2018January136,73510,686126,0499,282 100,6518,40692,2458,692 237,38619,092218,29417,974
 February135,3339,937125,39611,341 100,0117,42292,5898,060 235,34417,359217,98519,401
 March132,5819,731122,85012,481 99,7858,93790,8489,165 232,36618,668213,69821,646
 April128,3498,090120,25912,323 95,2536,05489,19910,585 223,60214,144209,45822,908
 May127,69912,851114,84813,499 95,80310,27085,5339,722 223,50223,121200,38123,221
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 3 (XLS 67KB)
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Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions¹May 2017April 2018May 2018Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
      Border, Midland and Western47,66239,99739,878-119-7,7844,64035,238
      Border21,54918,08618,173+87-3,3762,27215,901
      Midland12,1159,9129,731-181-2,3841,2298,502
      West13,99811,99911,974-25-2,0241,13910,835
 
      Southern and Eastern104,79888,30587,736-569-17,0629,82977,907
      Dublin39,08733,01133,047+36-6,0403,61729,430
      Mid-East13,85411,58311,490-93-2,3641,30710,183
      Mid-West12,85710,66210,580-82-2,2771,3019,279
      South-East20,11517,22417,080-144-3,0352,15114,929
      South-West18,88515,82515,539-286-3,3461,45314,086
      Total152,460128,349127,699-650-24,76114,489113,210
 
Females
      Border, Midland and Western36,06031,23431,574+340-4,4863,57727,997
      Border16,02813,96014,110+150-1,9181,71812,392
      Midland9,4927,8357,928+93-1,5641,0196,909
      West10,5409,4399,536+97-1,0048408,696
 
      Southern and Eastern74,18263,98164,143+162-10,0396,54457,599
      Dublin25,62021,99022,085+95-3,5352,03920,046
      Mid-East11,0819,5419,584+43-1,4979338,651
      Mid-West9,0877,7767,786+10-1,3019396,847
      South-East14,88512,73812,853+115-2,0321,57411,279
      South-West13,50911,93611,835-101-1,6741,05910,776
      Total110,24295,25395,803+550-14,43910,14685,657
 
All Persons
      Border, Midland and Western83,72271,23171,452+221-12,2708,21763,235
      Border37,57732,04632,283+237-5,2943,99028,293
      Midland21,60717,74717,659-88-3,9482,24815,411
      West24,53821,43821,510+72-3,0281,97919,531
 
      Southern and Eastern178,980152,286151,879-407-27,10116,373135,506
      Dublin64,70755,00155,132+131-9,5755,65649,476
      Mid-East24,93521,12421,074-50-3,8612,24018,834
      Mid-West21,94418,43818,366-72-3,5782,24016,126
      South-East35,00029,96229,933-29-5,0673,72526,208
      South-West32,39427,76127,374-387-5,0202,51224,862
      Total2262,702223,602223,502-100-39,20024,635198,867
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 May 2018 Table 4 (XLS 43KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
Broad occupational groupMay 2017April 2018May 2018Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
Managers and administrators6,9706,2346,202-32-7681256,077
Professional6,9575,7815,897+116-1,0602555,642
Associate professional and technical 4,6894,0014,122+121-5673083,814
Clerical and secretarial7,2386,2896,289+0-9495885,701
Craft and related 41,17433,77933,045-734-8,1292,43030,615
Personal and protective service11,0629,7349,595-139-1,4678958,700
Sales10,7798,4878,719+232-2,0601,8836,836
Plant and machine operatives30,32625,43425,137-297-5,1892,74322,394
Other occupation23,41220,43420,368-66-3,0442,75917,609
No occupation¹9,8538,1768,325+149-1,5282,5035,822
Total 152,460128,349127,699-650-24,76114,489113,210
 
Females
Managers and administrators5,3294,9194,931+12-398864,845
Professional8,1437,1857,315+130-8282837,032
Associate professional and technical 3,7063,2023,337+135-3691863,151
Clerical and secretarial19,72317,35017,396+46-2,32764816,748
Craft and related 6,2945,6755,692+17-6026545,038
Personal and protective service22,72919,76819,503-265-3,2262,07717,426
Sales18,09314,79814,910+112-3,1832,18912,721
Plant and machine operatives11,3739,6459,689+44-1,6841,0678,622
Other occupation8,2307,1817,313+132-9171,3575,956
No occupation¹6,6225,5305,717+187-9051,5994,118
Total110,24295,25395,803+550-14,43910,14685,657
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators12,29911,15311,133-20-1,16621110,922
Professional15,10012,96613,212+246-1,88853812,674
Associate professional and technical 8,3957,2037,459+256-9364946,965
Clerical and secretarial26,96123,63923,685+46-3,2761,23622,449
Craft and related 47,46839,45438,737-717-8,7313,08435,653
Personal and protective service33,79129,50229,098-404-4,6932,97226,126
Sales28,87223,28523,629+344-5,2434,07219,557
Plant and machine operatives41,69935,07934,826-253-6,8733,81031,016
Other occupation31,64227,61527,681+66-3,9614,11623,565
No occupation¹16,47513,70614,042+336-2,4334,1029,940
Total 262,702223,602223,502-100-39,20024,635198,867
¹ Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 5 (XLS 44KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
DurationMay 2017April 2018May 2018Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
   Less than one year82,92072,88471,158-1,726-11,76210,40160,757
   One year or more69,54055,46556,541+1,076-12,9994,08852,453
   Total152,460128,349127,699-650-24,76114,489113,210
 
Females
   Less than one year66,01058,00957,647-362-8,3637,39250,255
   One year or more44,23237,24438,156+912-6,0762,75435,402
   Total110,24295,25395,803+550-14,43910,14685,657
 
All Persons
   Less than one year148,930130,893128,805-2,088-20,12517,793111,012
   One year or more113,77292,70994,697+1,988-19,0756,84287,855
   Total262,702223,602223,502-100-39,20024,635198,867
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 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
2016May33,549-260 30,269-258 63,818-518
 June33,490-59 30,222-47 63,712-106
 July32,949-541 29,763-459 62,712-1,000
 August32,159-790 29,187-576 61,346-1,366
 September31,263-896 28,322-865 59,585-1,761
 October31,100-163 28,288-34 59,388-197
 November31,108+08 28,535+247 59,643+255
 December31,156+48 28,752+217 59,908+265
 
2017January30,890-266 28,590-162 59,480-428
 February31,061+171 28,835+245 59,896+416
 March30,641-420 28,619-216 59,260-636
 April29,949-692 28,147-472 58,096-1,164
 May29,417-532 27,549-598 56,966-1,130
 June29,092-325 27,245-304 56,337-629
 July28,426-666 26,821-424 55,247-1,090
 August27,552-874 26,091-730 53,643-1,604
 September26,671-881 25,321-770 51,992-1,651
 October26,225-446 25,065-256 51,290-702
 November26,190-35 25,154+89 51,344+54
 December26,120-70 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
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 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
2016May11,5563,21329,4708,259 52,498254,324306,822
 June11,8223,31929,3158,684 53,140262,514315,654
 July11,8553,31228,8378,706 52,710266,285318,995
 August11,7163,32928,2198,633 51,897264,121316,018
 September10,8163,07226,6477,769 48,304237,799286,103
 October10,5353,03726,1617,289 47,022229,787276,809
 November10,4873,14626,1637,150 46,946226,214273,160
 December10,6083,21326,8797,158 47,858228,644276,502
 
2017January10,6143,23427,5187,186 48,552228,340276,892
 February10,5243,21927,3697,218 48,330226,763275,093
 March10,2293,06526,4877,197 46,978220,224267,202
 April10,0542,92325,7937,140 45,910217,507263,417
 May10,0552,88925,1847,447 45,575217,127262,702
 June10,2592,94124,9217,899 46,020222,706268,726
 July10,3342,99224,7427,971 46,039228,346274,385
 August10,0492,95023,8587,822 44,679219,577264,256
 September9,3332,75922,6167,222 41,930202,389244,319
 October9,1002,73022,2626,850 40,942195,550236,492
 November9,0002,85822,3276,685 40,870192,339233,209
 December9,1182,85622,6796,671 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
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 8 (XLS 43KB)
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Table 9 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 May 2015 May 2016 May 2017 May 2018
 Number% of total Number% of total Number% of total Number% of total
Sex
Males208,51860.4 181,23259.1 152,46058.0 127,69957.1
Females136,81339.6 125,59040.9 110,24242.0 95,80342.9
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,502100.0
 
Age
Under 25 years47,02713.6 37,66212.3 30,25311.5 24,63511.0
25 years and over298,30486.4 269,16087.7 232,44988.5 198,86789.0
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,502100.0
 
Scheme
JB Claims45,40813.1 40,33513.1 36,43713.9 35,04715.7
JA Applications265,59376.9 235,04276.6 196,85774.9 162,09272.5
Other Registrants34,3309.9 31,44510.2 29,40811.2 26,36311.8
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,502100.0
 
Duration of Continuous Registration
Less than one year183,53753.1 166,39754.2 148,93056.7 128,80557.6
One year or more161,79446.9 140,42545.8 113,77243.3 94,69742.4
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,502100.0
 
Nationality Grouping
Irish Nationals287,00383.1 254,32482.9 217,12782.7 183,70682.2
Non-Irish Nationals58,32816.9 52,49817.1 45,57517.3 39,79617.8
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,502100.0
 
NUTS2 Regions¹
Border, Midland and Western108,50531.4 96,93531.6 83,72231.9 71,45232.0
Southern and Eastern236,82668.6 209,88768.4 178,98068.1 151,87968.0
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,331100.0
 
Last Held Occupation
Managers and administrators15,2784.4 13,8244.5 12,2994.7 11,1335.0
Professional19,2495.6 17,2095.6 15,1005.7 13,2125.9
Associate professional and technical9,6702.8 9,0833.0 8,3953.2 7,4593.3
Clerical and secretarial32,8939.5 29,9419.8 26,96110.3 23,68510.6
Craft and related 67,78519.6 57,87518.9 47,46818.1 38,73717.3
Personal and protective service43,25012.5 39,31912.8 33,79112.9 29,09813.0
Sales38,30711.1 34,21711.2 28,87211.0 23,62910.6
Plant and machine operatives56,48616.4 49,34016.1 41,69915.9 34,82615.6
Other occupation41,99412.2 37,03412.1 31,64212.0 27,68112.4
No Occupation²20,4195.9 18,9806.2 16,4756.3 14,0426.3
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,502100.0
 
Casual Status
No casual and part-time work276,13480.0 243,00479.2 205,73678.3 176,58579.0
Casual and part-time work69,19720.0 63,81820.8 56,96621.7 46,91721.0
Total345,331100.0 306,822100.0 262,702100.0 223,502100.0
¹ The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes
² Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2018 Table 9 (XLS 49KB)
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Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes
 April 2017March 2018April 2018
Back to Work Schemes
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand10,6588,8568,525
Short-term Enterprise Allowance1 407348345
Total Back to Work payments 11,0659,2048,870
 
Other Activation Programmes
DSP Part-time Job Incentive466415409
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 7,1656,3146,300
JobBridge (2011)274600
Gateway (2013)3345188
Total Other Activation Programmes8,7226,7476,717
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)22,16121,70521,766
 
FAS (Solas) Full Time Training for Unemployed People46,4895,9955,995
     
Back to Education Courses
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)5N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)613,36210,68210,552
Total Back to Education Courses 18,36215,68215,552
     
Total Activation Programmes66,79959,33358,900
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.
2 This scheme was closed to new applications from 21 October 2016.
3 Gateway Scheme included from December 2013.
4 March and April 2018 figures as at December 2017 as data for 2018 unavailable.
5 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 per month.
6 BTEA 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 May 2018 - Annex (XLS 35KB)
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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:

May 2018 – 29th April to 2nd June 2018

May 2017 – 30th April to 27th May 2017

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 referenced 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 are based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) classification used by Eurostat.  The NUTS3 regions correspond 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.  The NUTS2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed by Eurostat in 1999, are groupings of the NUTS3 regions.

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

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 Department of Social Protection. 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 Department of Social Protection 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 on the front page of the release or e-mail labour@cso.ie

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http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregistermay2018/

Contact:

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Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
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E-Mail:
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