Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Extra information
For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Catalina Gonzalez (+353) 87 646 7535 Martina O'Callaghan (+353) 21 453 5491
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 2020

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedPandemic Unemployment Payment Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy SchemeTotal (Excluding overlaps)
May 2019189,867190,900---
April 2020214,741217,500602,107436,9251,177,409
May 2020225,662226,400543,164436,3441,140,579
      
Change in month-8,900-58,943-581-36,830
Change in year 35,795----

COVID-19 crisis continues to impact labour market in May 2020

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

A range of measures were introduced by the Government in relation to providing income support for those whose employment has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. The available schemes are being administered by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) and the Revenue Commissioners. See our Infographic

At the end of May 2020, the majority of those whose income from employment has been affected due to COVID-19 were still being facilitated through the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (543,164 persons) which is administered by the DEASP while a slightly smaller cohort were being facilitated through the Revenue Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (436,344 persons). See Table A2.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has worked to identify the detail available from the different sources and how the different schemes should be classified for statistical purposes. There is some overlap between those who meet the criteria to be included on the Live Register and those who are benefitting from either of the two COVID-19 income support schemes. These overlaps occur due to the different frequency of the payments, and the fact that some persons who are included on the Live Register may not be receiving a payment and so might be benefitting from either the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. We have included a total column in the Headline Table above and in Table A2 of this release today which takes account of the overlap and counts each person only once.

As users will be aware, the Live Register is a series which is available back to 1967 on the CSO’s StatBank tabular data service. The Live Register series is of immense historical value and the CSO is keen to protect the continuity of the series, while also trying to make as much information as possible available to users, charting the labour market effects of COVID-19 at this time.

The CSO published an information note on 1 April 2020 for users on the Implications of the COVID-19 emergency payment measures on the Live Register and the Monthly Unemployment Estimates releases. That information note is available here  Information Note on Implications of COVID-19 on the Live Register and the Monthly Unemployment Estimates.  The information note outlines why those in receipt of the COVID-19 income support payments are not included on the Live Register unless they meet the usual criteria to be included on the Live Register. Thus, the Live Register has been compiled in the traditional way and the usual tables are included below. The detailed commentary usually provided on the Live Register tables has not been included here but can be made available to users on request to labour@cso.ie.

The unadjusted number of persons on the Live Register in May 2020 published here includes a small number of applicants for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment who have been advised to apply for jobseekers benefits if they have a dependant adult and at least one child, or four or more children in the case of no dependant adult. At this stage it is not possible for the CSO to quantify the number of those claimants; the Live Register totals for May 2020 may be revised should more information become available later.

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.  

 

The unadjusted Live Register total for May 2020 was 225,662 persons; this consisted of 124,960 males (55.4%) and 100,702 females (44.6%). Of those on the Live Register for May 2020, 29,617, or 13.1%, are under 25 years of age, while 196,045, or 86.9%, are 25 years of age and over. See Table 1a.

On an adjusted basis, the number of male and female claimants on the Live Register were 124,300 and 102,200 representing 54.9% and 45.1% of the seasonally adjusted Live Register total respectively. See Table 2a.

A total of 543,164 persons were in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for the last week of May 2020; this consisted of 296,358 males (54.6%) and 246,806 females (45.4%). Of those claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, 114,986 or 21.2%, are under 25 years of age, while 428,178 or 78.8%, are 25 years of age and over. See Table A2.

A total of 436,344 persons have benefitted from the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme for the month May 2020 with 261,987 males and 174,357 females representing 60.0% and 40.0% of the total respectively. Of those benefitting from the Temporary Wage Subside Scheme, 54,849 (12.6%) are under 25 years of age, while 381,495 (87.4%) are 25 years of age and over. See Table A2.

Excluding overlaps between the schemes, a total of 1,140,579 persons were either on the Live Register for May 2020 or benefitted from either the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. See Table A2.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) have worked with both the DEASP and the Revenue Commissioners to meet user needs for availability of more detailed aggregates for the recipients of both the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme respectively. Tables providing the breakdowns of the numbers receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme for each week by sex, age group, county and nationality grouping are available at the following link:  Detailed COVID-19 Tables. This link also contains tables for the corresponding numbers included on the Live Register for each week as well as a total number of persons with overlaps removed who are either on the Live Register for each week or who were benefitting from either the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. The CSO will continue to work with both DEASP and the Revenue Commissioners to update these tables on a weekly basis and to make any additional relevant breakdowns relating to the schemes available at the link above.

The Labour Market Analysis area of the CSO are compiling a mailing list of users who wish to register their interest in being kept informed of Labour Market related updates from the CSO. These email updates will include advising users of any updates to the aggregate tables available at the link above. If you wish to be included in this mailing list please email labour@cso.ie and ask for your email address to be included on the mailing list.

DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
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
January 202011605067705
February 202011574566871
March 202013824466965
April 202014629168450
May 202015579869864
Under 25 years25 years and over
May 201824635198867
May 201920347169520
May 202029617196045
Broad Occupational GroupMay 2018May 2019May 2020
111133994311601
2132121177914577
3745967837847
4236852061022126
5387373185335645
6290982457032508
7236291974020675
8348262889031702
9276812350326625
10140421219622356
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

 

Table 1(a) Total persons on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2019April 2020May 2020Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims15,95128,33529,780+1,445+13,829
    JA Applications83,72584,47688,816+4,340+5,091
    Other Registrants7,3426,4216,364-57-978
    Total107,018119,232124,960+5,72817,942
 
Females
    JB Claims17,27329,66531,216+1,551+13,943
    JA Applications49,86251,46255,260+3,798+5,398
    Other Registrants15,71414,38214,226-156-1,488
    Total82,84995,509100,702+5,193+17,853
 
All Persons
    JB Claims33,22458,00060,996+2,996+27,772
    JA Applications133,587135,938144,076+8,138+10,489
    Other Registrants23,05620,80320,590-213-2,466
    Total189,867214,741225,662+10,921+35,795
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2019April 2020May 2020Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,1662,0912,410+319+1,244
    JA Applications10,66712,15313,831+1,678+3,164
    Other Registrants583737+0-21
    Total11,89114,28116,278+1,997+4,387
 
Females
    JB Claims1,0152,6183,025+407+2,010
    JA Applications7,3908,65810,274+1,616+2,884
    Other Registrants514140-1-11
    Total8,45611,31713,339+2,022+4,883
 
All Persons
    JB Claims2,1814,7095,435+726+3,254
    JA Applications18,05720,81124,105+3,294+6,048
    Other Registrants1097877-1-32
    Total20,34725,59829,617+4,019+9,270
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2019April 2020May 2020Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims14,78526,24427,370+1,126+12,585
    JA Applications73,05872,32374,985+2,662+1,927
    Other Registrants7,2846,3846,327-57-957
    Total95,127104,951108,682+3,731+13,555
 
Females
    JB Claims16,25827,04728,191+1,144+11,933
    JA Applications42,47242,80444,986+2,182+2,514
    Other Registrants15,66314,34114,186-155-1,477
    Total74,39384,19287,363+3,171+12,970
 
All Persons
    JB Claims31,04353,29155,561+2,270+24,518
    JA Applications115,530115,127119,971+4,844+4,441
    Other Registrants22,94720,72520,513-212-2,434
    Total169,520189,143196,045+6,902+26,525
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2018May127,69995,803223,502127,00097,600224,600
 June126,981101,084228,065124,20096,100220,300
 July126,252108,193234,445122,10094,800216,900
 August123,354101,804225,158119,80093,300213,000
 September115,89089,840205,730118,00092,400210,400
 October112,39786,850199,247116,60091,400208,000
 November110,83685,425196,261115,10090,500205,600
 December112,41487,255199,669113,70089,700203,400
 
2019January113,15486,473199,627112,30088,700201,000
 February111,31785,617196,934110,70088,000198,600
 March109,13083,277192,407109,60087,100196,800
 April107,76585,353193,118108,10087,500195,600
 May107,01882,849189,867106,40084,500190,900
 June108,27388,835197,108105,80084,100189,800
 July108,93697,460206,396105,00084,000189,000
 August107,84991,244199,093104,50083,000187,500
 September103,54880,235183,783105,30082,700188,000
 October100,96179,498180,459104,60083,700188,300
 November100,65976,895177,554104,40081,800186,200
 December102,87879,118181,996104,00081,500185,500
 
2020January104,60579,150183,755104,00081,500185,400
 February103,59679,020182,616103,50081,600185,200
 March113,26891,941205,209114,30096,300210,600
 April119,23295,509214,741119,60097,900217,500
 May124,960100,702225,662 124,300102,200226,400
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
2018May14,48910,14624,63514,30010,20024,500
 June14,65810,79025,44813,9009,90023,800
 July14,61911,36925,98813,6009,70023,300
 August14,58311,05025,63313,4009,50022,900
 September13,2759,39522,67013,1009,30022,400
 October12,3928,66321,05512,9009,20022,100
 November11,8328,18020,01212,7009,10021,800
 December11,7988,12319,92112,6009,00021,600
 
2019January12,3088,56920,87712,5009,00021,600
 February12,2448,62420,86812,4009,00021,400
 March12,0308,42020,45012,2008,90021,100
 April11,6788,27119,94911,9008,80020,700
 May11,8918,45620,34711,7008,50020,200
 June12,2939,25521,54811,7008,50020,100
 July12,5009,99022,49011,6008,40020,100
 August12,7269,74522,47111,7008,30020,000
 September11,9498,39320,34211,7008,30020,000
 October11,1997,71918,91811,7008,20019,900
 November11,0007,36218,36211,8008,20020,000
 December11,1007,36918,46911,9008,20020,000
 
2020January11,7387,85319,59112,0008,30020,300
 February11,6998,03319,73211,9008,50020,300
 March13,07410,32323,39713,30011,00024,300
 April14,28111,31725,59814,60012,00026,600
 May16,27813,33929,617 16,00013,30029,400
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
2018May113,21085,657198,867 112,60087,400200,100
 June112,32390,294202,617 110,30086,300196,500
 July111,63396,824208,457 108,50085,100193,600
 August108,77190,754199,525 106,40083,800190,100
 September102,61580,445183,060 104,90083,100188,000
 October100,00578,187178,192 103,60082,200185,900
 November99,00477,245176,249 102,30081,500183,800
 December100,61679,132179,748 101,10080,700181,800
 
2019January100,84677,904178,750 99,70079,700179,400
 February99,07376,993176,066 98,30078,900177,300
 March97,10074,857171,957 97,40078,200175,700
 April96,08777,082173,169 96,20078,700174,900
 May95,12774,393169,520 94,70076,000170,700
 June95,98079,580175,560 94,10075,600169,700
 July96,43687,470183,906 93,30075,500168,900
 August95,12381,499176,622 92,80074,600167,500
 September91,59971,842163,441 93,60074,400168,000
 October89,76271,779161,541 92,90075,500168,400
 November89,65969,533159,192 92,60073,700166,300
 December91,77871,749163,527 92,10073,300165,500
 
2020January92,86771,297164,164 92,00073,200165,100
 February91,89770,987162,884 91,70073,200164,800
 March100,19481,618181,812 101,00085,300186,300
 April104,95184,192189,143 104,90085,900190,900
 May108,68287,363196,045 108,20088,800197,100
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
2019May15,9513,75012,2014,305 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
 
2020January19,5115,34814,1633,557 19,1744,62614,5484,190 38,6859,97428,7117,747
 February19,3203,78215,5383,505 19,3873,42315,9642,836 38,7077,20531,5026,341
 March25,5499,38516,1642,678 28,44312,11616,3272,697 53,99221,50132,4915,375
 April28,3356,20122,1342,666 29,6654,99524,6703,124 58,00011,19646,8045,790
 May29,7805,14924,6313,114 31,2164,95626,2602,851 60,99610,10550,8915,965
JA Applications
2019May83,7257,47376,2527,447 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
 
2020January78,4515,58372,8685,530 45,2123,67041,5423,733 123,6639,253114,4109,263
 February77,6544,55473,1005,772 44,9512,95941,9923,484 122,6057,513115,0929,256
 March81,2297,57373,6564,445 49,0676,50942,5582,698 130,29614,082116,2147,143
 April84,4765,30279,1742,756 51,4623,91947,5432,033 135,9389,221126,7174,789
 May88,8166,48682,3302,702 55,2605,49749,7632,175 144,07611,983132,0934,877
Other Registrants
2019May7,3421397,203354 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
 
2020January6,6431676,476284 14,76429514,469636 21,40746220,945920
 February6,6221226,500192 14,68225814,424448 21,30438020,924640
 March6,490966,394257 14,43123514,196546 20,92133120,590803
 April6,421876,334203 14,38219214,190382 20,80327920,524585
 May6,364566,308148 14,22610614,120339 20,59016220,428487
All Schemes
2019May107,01811,36295,65612,106 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
 
2020January104,60511,09893,5079,371 79,1508,59170,5598,559 183,75519,689164,06617,930
 February103,5968,45895,1389,469 79,0206,64072,3806,768 182,61615,098167,51816,237
 March113,26817,05496,2147,380 91,94118,86073,0815,941 205,20935,914169,29513,321
 April119,23211,590107,6425,625 95,5099,10686,4035,539 214,74120,696194,04511,164
 May124,96011,691113,2695,964 100,70210,55990,1435,365 225,66222,250203,41211,329
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 Regions¹May 2019April 2020May 2020Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
      Northern and Western21,36122,35422,612+258+1,2512,62419,988
      Border11,16011,75611,835+79+6751,41310,422
      West10,20110,59810,777+179+5761,2119,566
 
      Southern 35,68338,58338,817+234+3,1344,66134,156
      Mid-West11,16312,02612,115+89+9521,54210,573
      South-East12,34012,82912,792-37+4521,64811,144
      South-West12,18013,72813,910+182+1,7301,47112,439
 
     Eastern and Midland49,88051,65752,550+893+2,6706,16046,390
      Dublin28,01128,55829,244+686+1,2333,18726,057
      Mid-East13,83214,68814,861+173+1,0291,85613,005
      Midland8,0378,4118,445+34+4081,1177,328
      Total107,018119,232124,960+5,728+17,94216,278108,682
 
Females
      Northern and Western17,31718,43018,613+184+1,2972,11916,494
      Border8,9269,4159,395-19+4701,1728,223
      West8,3919,0159,218+203+8279478,271
 
      Southern 27,70030,33730,607+270+2,9073,63826,969
      Mid-West8,2658,9319,028+97+7631,1537,875
      South-East9,6499,7339,795+62+1461,2128,583
      South-West9,78611,67311,784+111+1,9981,27310,511
 
     Eastern and Midland37,73738,65038,995+345+1,2584,23534,760
      Dublin19,26719,77820,052+274+7852,00518,047
      Mid-East11,67512,10212,205+103+5301,31110,894
      Midland6,7956,7706,738-32-579195,819
      Total82,84995,509100,702+5,193+17,85313,33987,363
 
All Persons
      Northern and Western38,67840,78441,225+442+2,5484,74336,482
      Border20,08621,17121,230+60+1,1452,58518,645
      West18,59219,61319,995+382+1,4032,15817,837
 
      Southern 63,38368,92069,424+504+6,0418,29961,125
      Mid-West19,42820,95721,143+186+1,7152,69518,448
      South-East21,98922,56222,587+25+5982,86019,727
      South-West21,96625,40125,694+293+3,7282,74422,950
 
     Eastern and Midland87,61790,30791,545+1,238+3,92810,39581,150
      Dublin47,27848,33649,296+960+2,0185,19244,104
      Mid-East25,50726,79027,066+276+1,5593,16723,899
      Midland14,83215,18115,183+2+3512,03613,147
      Total2189,867214,741225,662+10,921+35,79529,617196,045
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
Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
Broad occupational groupMay 2019April 2020May 2020Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
Managers and administrators5,4906,0416,144+103+6541825,962
Professional5,1246,0116,354+343+1,2304485,906
Associate professional and technical 3,6983,9534,236+283+5383523,884
Clerical and secretarial5,4415,9246,016+92+5756685,348
Craft and related 26,75229,45329,488+35+2,7362,61926,869
Personal and protective service8,16310,83410,947+113+2,7841,3789,569
Sales7,1547,3497,694+345+5401,9585,736
Plant and machine operatives20,80022,40222,480+78+1,6802,77619,704
Other occupation17,21818,92019,239+319+2,0212,59716,642
No occupation¹7,1788,34512,362+4,017+5,1843,3009,062
Total 107,018119,232124,960+5,728+17,94216,278108,682
 
Females
Managers and administrators4,4535,4015,457+56+1,0041665,291
Professional6,6557,9368,223+287+1,5685577,666
Associate professional and technical 3,0853,4623,611+149+5262443,367
Clerical and secretarial15,16916,23716,110-127+94190415,206
Craft and related 5,1016,1656,157-8+1,0568555,302
Personal and protective service16,40721,71821,561-157+5,1542,94218,619
Sales12,58612,58312,981+398+3952,39910,582
Plant and machine operatives8,0909,0649,222+158+1,1321,4727,750
Other occupation6,2857,1567,386+230+1,1011,2586,128
No occupation¹5,0185,7879,994+4,207+4,9762,5427,452
Total82,84995,509100,702+5,193+17,85313,33987,363
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators9,94311,44211,601+159+1,65834811,253
Professional11,77913,94714,577+630+2,7981,00513,572
Associate professional and technical 6,7837,4157,847+432+1,0645967,251
Clerical and secretarial20,61022,16122,126-35+1,5161,57220,554
Craft and related 31,85335,61835,645+27+3,7923,47432,171
Personal and protective service24,57032,55232,508-44+7,9384,32028,188
Sales19,74019,93220,675+743+9354,35716,318
Plant and machine operatives28,89031,46631,702+236+2,8124,24827,454
Other occupation23,50326,07626,625+549+3,1223,85522,770
No occupation¹12,19614,13222,356+8,224+10,1605,84216,514
Total 189,867214,741225,662+10,921+35,79529,617196,045
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
DurationMay 2019April 2020May 2020Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
   Less than one year62,02378,89783,760+4,863+21,73713,40670,354
   One year or more44,99540,33541,200+865-3,7952,87238,328
   Total107,018119,232124,960+5,728+17,94216,278108,682
 
Females
   Less than one year51,60667,39472,038+4,644+20,43211,55060,488
   One year or more31,24328,11528,664+549-2,5791,78926,875
   Total82,84995,509100,702+5,193+17,85313,33987,363
 
All Persons
   Less than one year113,629146,291155,798+9,507+42,16924,956130,842
   One year or more76,23868,45069,864+1,414-6,3744,66165,203
   Total189,867214,741225,662+10,921+35,79529,617196,045
Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
  MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
2018May23,493-695 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
 
2020January17,561-193 18,794-268 36,355-461
 February17,661   +100 18,945   +151 36,606   +251
 March17,689   +28 18,918-27 36,607   +1
 April17,436-253 18,861-57 36,297-310
 May17,643   +207 18,873   +12 36,516   +219
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
2018May8,7552,64721,3707,024 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
 
2020January7,1552,48817,8736,031 33,547150,208183,755
 February7,1082,46917,8356,050 33,462149,154182,616
 March7,7643,54521,0788,983 41,370163,839205,209
 May8,0813,82722,17410,196 44,278170,463214,741
 May8,3984,40623,14012,483 48,427177,235225,662
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 Programmes
 April 2019March 2020April 2020
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand5,5323,7863,578
Short-term Enterprise Allowance1 318276255
Total Back to Work payments 5,8504,0623,833
 
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive263158146
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011)6,3065,3395,320
Total Other Activation Programmes6,5695,4975,466
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)21,53721,13221,098
 
SOLAS (FAS) Full Time Training for Unemployed People5,65311,19116,699
     
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)22,9042,7042,682
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)8,5706,8476,665
Total Back to Education Courses3 11,4749,5519,347
     
Total Activation Programmes51,08351,43356,443
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 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.
3 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.
Table A2 Number of persons on the Live Register and number in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, and the Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme
Category Live RegisterPandemic Unemployment Payment 2Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme 1,2Total (Excluding overlaps) 2,3
May 2020Males
    Under 25 years of age16,27857,81529,880100,598
    25 years of age and over108,682238,543232,107550,234
    Total124,960296,358261,987650,832
 
Females
    Under 25 years of age13,33957,17124,96991,475
    25 years of age and over87,363189,635149,388398,272
    Total100,702246,806174,357489,747
 
All Persons
    Under 25 years of age29,617114,98654,849192,073
    25 years of age and over196,045428,178381,495948,506
    Total225,662543,164436,3441,140,579
 
April 2020Males
    Under 25 years of age14,28163,28631,605103,503
    25 years of age and over104,951280,757226,093579,825
    Total119,232344,043257,698683,328
 
Females
    Under 25 years of age11,31758,92827,58191,520
    25 years of age and over84,192199,136151,646402,561
    Total95,509258,064179,227494,081
 
All Persons
    Under 25 years of age25,598122,21459,186195,023
    25 years of age and over189,143479,893377,739982,386
    Total214,741602,107436,9251,177,409
 
March 2020Males
    Under 25 years of age13,07428,4055,04144,106
    25 years of age and over100,194107,58323,383219,203
    Total113,268135,98828,424263,309
 
Females
    Under 25 years of age10,32336,6415,33448,764
    25 years of age and over81,618110,50020,089196,724
    Total91,941147,14125,423245,488
 
All Persons
    Under 25 years of age23,39765,04610,37592,870
    25 years of age and over181,812218,08343,472415,927
     Total205,209283,12953,847508,797
Source: Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and Revenue Commissioners
1Revised
2Subject to revision due to different payment frequencies
3Total number of persons on the Live Register and/or receiving a Pandemic Unemployment Payment or in receipt of Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme

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.

 

Source and scope of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is a scheme set up by the Government in response to the loss of income for those whose employment had been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. It is compiled from returns made to the Central Statistics Office by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP). Payments under the scheme commenced on the week ending March 22nd 2020, and will be reported under the Live Register release while the scheme is in place. 

Source and scope of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme is another scheme set up by the Government in response to the loss of income for those whose employment had been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. It is compiled from returns made to the Central Statistics Office by the Revenue Commissioners. Refunds are issued to employers registered under the scheme, who in turn pay their employees. The figures in this release reflect the number of persons receiving a payment under the scheme based on the pay date of the employee and will be reported a weekly basis as well as a monthly cumulative. Refunds under the scheme commenced on the week ending March 28th 2020, but might refer to earlier pay dates. Please see Detailed COVID-19 Income Support and Live Register Tables

Reference Periods

The reference periods for the Live Register and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (where applicable) results are as follows

May 2020 – 3rd May 2020 to 30th May 2020

April 2020 - 29th March 2020 to 2nd May 2020

March 2020 -1st March 2020 to 28th March 2020

May 2019 - 28th April 2019 to 1st June 2019

From May 2015 (reference period) the reference period for the Live Register 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).

The reference Period for the Temporary Wage Subsidy scheme as reported in this release on a monthly basis is as follows:

March 2020 -01st March 2020 to 28th March 2020

April 2020 -29th March 2020 to 2nd May 2020

May 2020 -3rd May 2020 to 30th May 2020

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme is also reported on a weekly basis here:  Detailed COVID-19 Income Support and Live Register Tables

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.

Seasonally adjusting the Live Register series during the Covid-19 crisis period 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 increases uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during this period.

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

upArrowHide Background Notes

Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregistermay2020/