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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Karen Desmond (+353) 21 453 5534 Sabrina Bowen (+353) 21 453 5151 Brendan Curtin (+353) 21 453 5577
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

February 2014

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedStandardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) %
February 2013428,876428,90013.8
January 2014399,630400,80012.0
February 2014398,069398,30011.9
   Percentage Points
Change in month--2,500-0.1
Change in year-30,807--1.9

Seasonally adjusted Live Register stands at 398,300 in February

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

 

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 2,500 in February 2014, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 398,300. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 398,069 people signing on the Live Register in February 2014.  This represents an annual decrease of 30,807 (-7.2%). See table 1(a).

The standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in February 2014 was 11.9%, down from 12.0% in January 2014.  The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) was 12.1% in the fourth quarter of 2013. See table 3.

 

 

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 1,900 males in February 2014, while females decreased by 500 over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 25,474 (-9.3%) to 247,381 over the year while female claimants decreased by 5,333 (-3.4%) to 150,688. This compares with a decrease of 10,595 (-3.7%) to 272,855 for males and an increase of 49 to 156,021 for females in the year to February 2013. 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 Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest estimated number of persons unemployed as of the fourth quarter of 2013 was 253,200.

 

DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
Feb 2012254867184555
Mar 2012249589184465
Apr 2012245948184053
May 2012244178188729
Jun 2012252725199249
Jul 2012260237200086
Aug 2012254743201513
Sept 2012236557192778
Oct 2012232055188117
Nov 2012230715186562
Dec 2012236589187144
Jan 2013239539189857
Feb 2013239409189467
Mar 2013237192187896
Apr 2013231530186063
May 2013229740191997
Jun 2013237849197508
Jul 2013244405197571
Aug 2013238472196808
Sept 2013219789188881
Oct 2013214111182401
Nov 2013211749179758
Dec 2013215790179621
Jan 2014218304181326
Feb 2014217573180496

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in February 2014 was 180,496.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 9,908 (-7.4%) in the year to February 2014, while females increased by 937 (+1.7%), giving an overall annual decrease of 8,971 (-4.7%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 7 and graph above.

In February 2014, 54.7% (217,573) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for February 2013 was 55.8% (239,409).  The annual fall of 21,836 (-9.1%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 15,566 (-11.2%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 6,270 (-6.3%) in female short term claimants.

 

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 81,204 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in February 2014, which represents 20.4% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 20.9% one year earlier when there were 89,780 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to February 2014 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 8,576 (-9.6%), with the number of males decreasing by 5,010 (-10.3%) and the number of females decreasing by 3,566 (-8.7%). See table 8.

 

Under 25 years25 years and over
Feb 201274936364486
Feb 201368361360515
Feb 201460232337837

Live Register age groups

In the year to February 2014 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 22,678 (-6.3%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 8,129 (-11.9%).  Annual decreases in persons aged under 25 have occurred in all months since July 2010, while the number of persons aged 25 and over have fallen annually in all months since July 2012. The percentage of persons aged under 25 on the Live Register now stands at 15.1% for February 2014, down from 15.9% in February 2013 and 17.1% in February 2012. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and graph above.

 

Live Register new registrants

There were 30,866 new registrants on the Live Register in February 2014, consisting of 12,843 JB claims, 16,379 JA claims and 1,644 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 54.4% (16,801) and females 45.6% (14,065) of all new registrants.  On average 4,200 male and 3,516 female new registrants joined the Live Register each week of the month.  The difference between the number of new registrants on the Live Register and the change in the total number on the Live Register is accounted for by closed claims and movements between schemes. See table 4.

Broad Occupational GroupFebruary 2012February 2013February 2014
1169111766416786
2236952405121732
3122471222711254
4419554021737216
51062349753383636
6527225190950361
7469724613044111
8710357021866427
9496984884245955
10179532008520591
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

Bearing in mind the overall annual decrease of 7.2% in the number of people on the Live Register in February the main other points which can be noted include:

  • An annual decrease of 7,439 (-2.4%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 301,716 in February 2014, while JB claimants decreased to 60,708 (-29.2%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 75.8% of all persons on the Live Register in February 2014 compared with 72.1% a year earlier. See table 1(a).
  • Annual decreases occurred in all of the eight NUTS 3 regions with the largest percentage decrease occurring in the South-West region (-9.1%) followed by the West and Mid-West regions (both -7.9%). See table 5.
  • Craft and related (21.0%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in February, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 13,897 (-14.2%) to 83,636.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Professional group (-9.6%). See table 6 and graph above.
  • In February Irish nationals accounted for 82.5% (328,377) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 69,692 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (39,337), followed by the UK (15,147). See table 9
  • A further compositional analysis of the Live Register is also available. See table 10.

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

 

Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of January 2014 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 (including Lone Parents) is provided in the Live Register Activation Programmes table.

There were 85,028 people availing of these programmes in January 2014, which is an increase of 1,696 (+2.0%) from the previous year, when there were 83,332 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
CategoryFebruary 2013January 2014February 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims45,48631,02930,755-274-14,731
    JA Applications215,282205,013203,878-1,135-11,404
    Other Registrants12,08712,68112,748+67+661
    Total272,855248,723247,381-1,342-25,474
      
Females     
    JB Claims40,31830,16529,953-212-10,365
    JA Applications93,87397,93097,838-92+3,965
    Other Registrants21,83022,81222,897+85+1,067
    Total156,021150,907150,688-219-5,333
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims85,80461,19460,708-486-25,096
    JA Applications309,155302,943301,716-1,227-7,439
    Other Registrants33,91735,49335,645+152+1,728
    Total428,876399,630398,069-1,561-30,807
      
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 1(a) (XLS 26KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryFebruary 2013January 2014February 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims3,0921,8141,834+20-1,258
    JA Applications38,18134,21334,044-169-4,137
    Other Registrants98116122+6+24
    Total41,37136,14336,000-143-5,371
      
Females     
    JB Claims2,8861,9251,896-29-990
    JA Applications23,87522,29322,152-141-1,723
    Other Registrants229176184+8-45
    Total26,99024,39424,232-162-2,758
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims5,9783,7393,730-9-2,248
    JA Applications62,05656,50656,196-310-5,860
    Other Registrants327292306+14-21
    Total68,36160,53760,232-305-8,129
      
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 1(b) (XLS 32KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryFebruary 2013January 2014February 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims42,39429,21528,921-294-13,473
    JA Applications177,101170,800169,834-966-7,267
    Other Registrants11,98912,56512,626+61+637
    Total231,484212,580211,381-1,199-20,103
      
Females     
    JB Claims37,43228,24028,057-183-9,375
    JA Applications69,99875,63775,686+49+5,688
    Other Registrants21,60122,63622,713+77+1,112
    Total129,031126,513126,456-57-2,575
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims79,82657,45556,978-477-22,848
    JA Applications247,099246,437245,520-917-1,579
    Other Registrants33,59035,20135,339+138+1,749
    Total360,515339,093337,837-1,256-22,678
      
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 1(c) (XLS 26KB)
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Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2012February283,500156,000439,400 280,900158,000438,900
 March280,200153,800434,100 279,800157,200437,000
 April277,400152,600430,000 279,400157,000436,500
 May278,800154,100432,900 279,000157,600436,600
 June286,700165,300452,000 279,600158,900438,500
 July287,800172,500460,300 278,900158,000437,000
 August286,600169,600456,300 278,500157,100435,600
 September273,800155,500429,300 277,600157,000434,600
 October268,500151,600420,200 276,800157,000433,800
 November266,400150,900417,300 275,400157,500432,900
 December269,900153,800423,700 273,900157,900431,800
         
2013January273,600155,800429,400 272,300158,300430,600
 February272,900156,000428,900 270,900158,100428,900
 March269,000156,100425,100 268,500158,300426,900
 April265,000152,600417,600 267,800158,200426,000
 May266,900154,800421,700 267,000158,200425,200
 June270,900164,400435,400 264,100158,000422,000
 July270,300171,700442,000 261,800157,300419,100
 August266,400168,800435,300 258,900156,700415,600
 September254,000154,600408,700 257,200156,200413,400
 October246,800149,800396,500 254,200155,200409,500
 November243,500148,000391,500 251,800154,400406,200
 December245,700149,700395,400 249,500153,600403,100
         
2014January248,700150,900399,600 247,600153,200400,800
 February247,400150,700398,100 245,700152,700398,300
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 2(a) (XLS 28KB)
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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
         
2012February46,20028,70074,900 46,50029,70076,200
 March45,20027,80073,000 45,90029,30075,200
 April43,90027,00070,900 45,50029,00074,400
 May44,50028,20072,600 45,10028,90074,000
 June47,60031,50079,100 45,20029,20074,300
 July48,10032,60080,700 44,80028,90073,700
 August47,90032,50080,400 44,60028,60073,200
 September44,40029,30073,700 44,10028,50072,500
 October42,20027,70069,900 43,50028,30071,800
 November40,70026,50067,200 42,90028,20071,200
 December40,80026,20066,900 42,50028,10070,700
         
2013January41,50026,90068,400 42,10028,00070,100
 February41,40027,00068,400 41,70027,90069,600
 March40,30026,20066,600 41,10027,60068,700
 April39,40025,60065,000 40,80027,60068,400
 May40,40026,90067,300 40,90027,60068,500
 June42,10029,20071,300 39,90027,00066,900
 July42,40030,20072,500 39,40026,70066,100
 August41,80030,10071,900 38,90026,60065,500
 September38,90027,30066,200 38,50026,50065,000
 October37,00025,60062,600 38,00026,20064,200
 November35,50024,20059,700 37,50025,90063,300
 December35,30023,80059,100 37,00025,60062,500
         
2014January36,10024,40060,500 36,70025,40062,100
 February36,00024,20060,200 36,30025,00061,400
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 2(b) (XLS 28KB)
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Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2012February237,200127,200364,500 234,500128,300362,700
 March235,100126,000361,100 234,000127,900361,800
 April233,500125,600359,100 234,000128,100362,100
 May234,300126,000360,300 233,900128,700362,500
 June239,100133,800372,900 234,500129,700364,200
 July239,700139,900379,600 234,100129,200363,300
 August238,800137,100375,900 233,900128,500362,400
 September229,400126,300355,600 233,500128,500362,000
 October226,300123,900350,300 233,300128,700362,000
 November225,700124,500350,100 232,500129,300361,700
 December229,100127,700356,800 231,400129,800361,100
         
2013January232,200128,900361,000 230,300130,200360,500
 February231,500129,000360,500 229,200130,200359,300
 March228,700129,900358,500 227,400130,700358,200
 April225,700127,000352,600 227,000130,600357,600
 May226,600127,900354,500 226,100130,600356,700
 June228,800135,200364,000 224,200130,900355,100
 July227,900141,500369,400 222,400130,600353,000
 August224,600138,700363,300 220,100130,100350,100
 September215,200127,300342,500 218,700129,700348,400
 October209,800124,100333,900 216,200129,100345,300
 November208,000123,700331,800 214,300128,500342,800
 December210,400125,900336,300 212,600128,000340,600
         
2014January212,600126,500339,100 210,900127,800338,800
 February211,400126,500337,800 209,400127,600337,000
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 2(c) (XLS 28KB)
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Table 3 Seasonally Adjusted Standardised Unemployment Rates (SUR)1
Month2010201120122013 2014
 %%%% %
January13.114.515.013.9 12.0
February213.014.415.113.8 11.9
March13.214.415.013.7 
April13.514.414.813.6 
May213.814.414.713.6  
June13.714.514.813.3 
July13.814.714.713.0 
August213.914.814.712.7  
September14.314.714.512.5 
October14.514.814.412.3 
November214.714.914.212.13
December14.715.014.112.1 
      
Annual average13.814.614.713.1  
1 Table contains revised figures. See Background Notes.  
2 Benchmark Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) calendar quarter estimates.
3 The latest QNHS estimate of the unemployment rate (adjusted for seasonality) is: October- December 2013, 12.1%.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 3 (XLS 32KB)
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Table 4 Summary of flows1 on and off the Live Register
   Males Females
  Number of Weeks New Regis-trations Average Weekly Change  New Regis-trations Average Weekly Change
  Live RegisterOutflow (derived) Live RegisterOutflow (derived)
   
JB Claims           
2013February445,4867,0817,705-156 40,3187,321     7,621-75
 March543,6947,4679,259-358 40,7398,579     8,158+84
 April 441,6786,1508,166-504 38,0587,117     9,798-670
 May540,1166,5618,123-312 36,9006,286     7,444-232
 June439,4325,4256,109-171 39,5867,484     4,798+672
 July438,1865,6856,931-312 43,5319,917     5,972+986
 August534,4385,6239,371-750 39,3886,718     10,861-829
 September430,6024,9538,789-959 31,1125,441     13,717-2,069
 October429,3156,1737,460-322 29,2155,211     7,108-474
 November528,8557,7148,174- 92 28,6429,051     9,624- 115
 December429,6074,9194,167+188 30,0395,400     4,003+349
            
2014January531,0299,3307,908+284 30,1659,876     9,750+25
 February430,7556,2556,529-69 29,9536,588     6,800-53
            
JA Applications           
2013February4215,28210,56310,759-49 93,8736,4705,965+126
 March5213,05511,59613,823-445 93,3066,9167,483-113
 April 4211,1029,34411,297-488 92,6685,7866,424-160
 May5214,64112,3308,791+708 96,1438,4214,946+695
 June4219,35811,4556,738+1,179 102,94210,6623,863+1,700
 July4220,09310,87210,137+184 105,7538,6415,830+703
 August5219,79912,91713,211-59 106,8029,1998,150+210
 September4211,15512,16420,808-2,161 101,2378,47414,039-1,391
 October4205,09611,83017,889-1,515 98,1087,91911,048-782
 November5202,24912,90615,753-569 96,7348,4919,865-275
 December4203,6558,2776,871+352 96,9354,8884,687+50
            
2014January5205,01312,46311,105+272 97,9308,1577,162+199
 February4203,8789,90511,040-284 97,8386,4746,566-23
            
Other Registrants           
2013February412,087586538+12 21,8301,0651,018+12
 March512,247776616+32 22,0471,2401,023+43
 April 412,237533543-3  21,8509291,126-49
 May512,164567640-15 21,7739241,001-15
 June412,147489506-4  21,8921,012893+30
 July412,024554677-31  22,3891,5341,037+124
 August512,206766584+36 22,6471,4321,174+52
 September412,289675592+21 22,2751,1901,562-93
 October412,342760707+13 22,4361,2801,119+40
 November512,434773681+18 22,5931,4861,329+31
 December412,459451426+6 22,716804681+31
            
2014January512,681847625+44 22,8121,3111,215+19
 February412,748641574+17 22,8971,003918+21
            
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 February 2014 Table 4 (XLS 32KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1February 2013January 2014February 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western83,68076,83376,219-614-7,46111,50164,718
      Border38,28034,91334,565-348-3,7155,34429,221
      Midland21,13719,78019,587-193-1,5503,09016,497
      West24,26322,14022,067-73-2,1963,06719,000
        
      Southern and Eastern189,175171,890171,162-728-18,01324,499146,663
      Dublin67,02061,03261,160+128-5,8608,99752,163
      Mid-East26,06223,57623,372-204-2,6903,34620,026
      Mid-West23,01620,95020,814-136-2,2023,09117,723
      South-East36,06933,36632,942-424-3,1274,87928,063
      South-West37,00832,96632,874-92-4,1344,18628,688
      Total272,855248,723247,381-1,342-25,47436,000211,381
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western49,61248,16548,000-165-1,6127,97640,024
      Border22,12821,60321,514-89-6143,59117,923
      Midland12,35712,28912,265-24-922,26010,005
      West15,12714,27314,221-52-9062,12512,096
        
      Southern and Eastern106,409102,742102,688-54-3,72116,25686,432
      Dublin35,57134,44434,516+72-1,0555,70828,808
      Mid-East15,45315,10715,195+88-2582,30112,894
      Mid-West13,57313,03812,900-138-6732,09910,801
      South-East20,18519,69119,646-45-5393,26416,382
      South-West21,62720,46220,431-31-1,1962,88417,547
      Total156,021150,907150,688-219-5,33324,232126,456
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western133,292124,998124,219-779-9,07319,477104,742
      Border60,40856,51656,079-437-4,3298,93547,144
      Midland33,49432,06931,852-217-1,6425,35026,502
      West39,39036,41336,288-125-3,1025,19231,096
        
      Southern and Eastern295,584274,632273,850-782-21,73440,755233,095
      Dublin102,59195,47695,676+200-6,91514,70580,971
      Mid-East41,51538,68338,567-116-2,9485,64732,920
      Mid-West36,58933,98833,714-274-2,8755,19028,524
      South-East56,25453,05752,588-469-3,6668,14344,445
      South-West58,63553,42853,305-123-5,3307,07046,235
      Total428,876399,630398,069-1,561-30,80760,232337,837
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 5 (XLS 29KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 February 2013January 2014February 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators10,2739,6359,658+23-6153199,339
Professional11,19510,21110,083-128-1,1128329,251
Associate professional and technical 6,9676,4466,448+2-5198595,589
Clerical and secretarial11,19810,30210,338+36-8601,2439,095
Craft and related 89,91977,26276,415-847-13,5046,40070,015
Personal and protective service18,73317,74717,708-39-1,0252,39315,315
Sales18,09817,05917,239+180-8595,08312,156
Plant and machine operatives54,55951,11550,835-280-3,7246,35144,484
Other occupation39,17336,25035,953-297-3,2206,80629,147
No occupation112,74012,69612,704+8-365,7146,990
Total 272,855248,723247,381-1,342-25,47436,000211,381
        
Females       
Managers and administrators7,3917,1607,128-32-2631896,939    
Professional12,85611,82511,649-176-1,20784010,809
Associate professional and technical 5,2604,8384,806-32-4544744,332    
Clerical and secretarial29,01926,90026,878-22-2,1411,57125,307
Craft and related 7,6147,1757,221+46-3939896,232
Personal and protective service33,17632,76132,653-108-5235,66626,987    
Sales28,03226,65426,872+218-1,1606,00220,870    
Plant and machine operatives15,65915,66615,592-74-672,27613,316
Other occupation9,66910,02610,002-24+3332,7997,203
No occupation17,3457,9027,887-15+5423,4264,461
Total156,021150,907150,688-219-5,33324,232126,456
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators17,66416,79516,786-9-87850816,278
Professional24,05122,03621,732-304-2,3191,67220,060
Associate professional and technical 12,22711,28411,254-30-9731,3339,921
Clerical and secretarial40,21737,20237,216+14-3,0012,81434,402
Craft and related 97,53384,43783,636-801-13,8977,38976,247
Personal and protective service51,90950,50850,361-147-1,5488,05942,302
Sales46,13043,71344,111+398-2,01911,08533,026
Plant and machine operatives70,21866,78166,427-354-3,7918,62757,800
Other occupation48,84246,27645,955-321-2,8879,60536,350
No occupation120,08520,59820,591-7+5069,14011,451
Total 428,876399,630398,069-1,561-30,80760,232337,837
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 6 (XLS 36KB)
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Table 7 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 February 2013January 2014February 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males       
   Less than one year139,481124,554123,915-639-15,56622,634101,281
   One year or more133,374124,169123,466-703-9,90813,366110,100
   Total272,855248,723247,381-1,342-25,47436,000211,381
        
Females       
   Less than one year99,92893,75093,658-92-6,27016,80576,853
   One year or more56,09357,15757,030-127+9377,42749,603
   Total156,021150,907150,688-219-5,33324,232126,456
        
All Persons       
   Less than one year239,409218,304217,573-731-21,83639,439178,134
   One year or more189,467181,326180,496-830-8,97120,793159,703
   Total428,876399,630398,069-1,561-30,80760,232337,837
        
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 7 (XLS 31KB)
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Table 8 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
   MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
         
2012February 47,038+782 41,176+403 88,214+1,185
 March 47,539+501 41,177+1 88,716+502
 April 47,614+75 40,828-349 88,442-274
 May 47,626+12 40,438-390 88,064-378
 June 47,891+265 40,574+136 88,465+401
 July 47,797-94 40,244-330 88,041-424
 August 47,569-228 39,585-659 87,154-887
 September 46,643-926 38,447-1,138 85,090-2,064
 October 46,829+186 38,834+387 85,663+573
 November 47,695+866 39,786+952 87,481+1,818
 December 48,082+387 39,987+201 88,069+588
          
2013January 47,829+253 40,095+108 87,924-145
 February 48,870+1,041 40,910+815 89,780+1,856
 March 48,961+91 40,837-73 89,798+18
 April 48,527-434 40,382-455 88,909-889
 May 48,095-432 39,848-534 87,943-966
 June 48,178+83 40,144+296 88,322+379
 July 47,592+586 39,827-317 87,419-903
 August 46,259-1,333 38,846-981 85,105-2,314
 September 44,676-1,583 37,619-1,227 82,295-2,810
 October 43,945-731 37,374-245 81,319-976
 November 43,911-34 37,578+204 81,489+170
 December 43,927+16 37,455-123 81,382-107
          
2014January 43,706-221 37,252-203 80,958-424
 February 43,860+154 37,344+92 81,204+246
           
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 8 (XLS 34KB)
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Table 9 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping 
  Nationality grouping 
  Non-Irish nationals     
   EU15 excl. IRL & UKEU15 to EU281 States     
United Kingdom  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
  Other  
          
2012February17,7833,68543,34113,946 78,755360,667439,422
 March17,5213,60843,02513,926 78,080355,974434,054
 April 17,3373,55842,26813,852 77,015352,986430,001
 May17,4473,55141,63414,151 76,783356,124432,907
 June18,0543,77041,36015,072 78,256373,718451,974
 July18,2903,75641,16715,209 78,422381,901460,323
 August18,1433,70040,62915,277 77,749378,507456,256
 September17,1353,52539,33514,324 74,319355,016429,335
 October16,7673,47739,34713,906 73,497346,675420,172
 November16,6953,53039,93513,588 73,748343,529417,277
 December16,8063,57540,49113,667 74,539349,194423,733
        
2013January16,9343,74342,00413,761 76,442352,954429,396
 February16,7993,85342,56113,616 76,829352,047428,876
 March16,5553,85142,24613,194 75,846349,242425,088
 April 16,1803,68341,63512,864 74,362343,231417,593
 May16,1873,66340,85813,124 73,832347,905421,737
 June16,7063,75040,63413,520 74,610360,747435,357
 July16,8733,74840,13613,312 74,069367,907441,976
 August16,5153,67939,17513,083 72,452362,828435,280
 September15,5433,53637,84212,320 69,241339,429408,670
 October15,1453,49037,27511,627 67,537328,975396,512
 November15,0993,66037,74811,386 67,893323,614391,507
 December15,2013,71138,22111,344 68,477326,934395,411
         
2014January15,2533,83039,26311,355 69,701329,929399,630
 February15,1473,83639,33711,372 69,692328,377398,069
          
1With the addition of Croatia from July 2013, EU15- EU28
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2014 Table 9 (XLS 35KB)
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Table 10 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 February 2011February 2012February 2013February 2014
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males291,80665.7283,45064.5272,85563.6247,38162.1
Females152,49334.3155,97235.5156,02136.4150,68837.9
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years82,06718.574,93617.168,36115.960,23215.1
25 years and over362,23281.5364,48682.9360,51584.1337,83784.9
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims124,59228.0103,25423.585,80420.060,70815.3
JA Applications291,73365.7304,68369.3309,15572.1301,71675.8
Other Registrants27,9746.331,4857.233,9177.935,6459.0
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year280,47463.1254,86758.0239,40955.8217,57354.7
One year or more163,82536.9184,55542.0189,46744.2180,49645.3
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals365,13782.2360,66782.1352,04782.1328,37782.5
Non-Irish Nationals79,16217.878,75517.976,82917.969,69217.5
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western137,47430.9135,34330.8133,29231.1124,21931.2
Southern and Eastern306,82569.1304,07969.2295,58468.9273,85068.8
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators17,1773.916,9113.817,6644.116,7864.2
Professional23,9865.423,6955.424,0515.621,7325.5
Associate professional and technical12,9172.912,2472.812,2272.911,2542.8
Clerical and secretarial42,6539.641,9559.540,2179.437,2169.3
Craft and related 114,91525.9106,23424.297,53322.783,63621.0
Personal and protective service51,62711.652,72212.051,90912.150,36112.7
Sales45,22310.246,97210.746,13010.844,11111.1
Plant and machine operatives70,89816.071,03516.270,21816.466,42716.7
Other occupation49,79811.249,69811.348,84211.445,95511.5
No occupation215,1053.417,9534.120,0854.720,5915.2
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work359,24080.9351,20879.9339,09679.1316,86579.6
Casual and part-time work85,05919.188,21420.189,78020.981,20420.4
Total444,299100.0439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0
         
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 February 2014 Table 10 (XLS 16KB)
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Live Register Activation Programmes    
 January 2013December 2013January 2014
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand114119
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand10,81210,09810,160
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 1,002583488
Total Back to Work payments 11,82810,69210,657
    
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive215312296
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 4,5107,1087,119
JobBridge (2011)5,5656,4836,440
Total Other Activation Programmes10,29013,90313,855
        
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 21,06322,57522,512
    
FAS Full Time Training for Unemployed People3 9,3468,9968,276
        
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)4N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)525,80524,99624,728
Total Back to Education Courses 30,80529,99629,728
        
Total Activation Programmes83,33286,16285,028
    
1 This scheme was closed to new applications from 1st May 2009.
2 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.   
3 Specific Skills Training/Local Training initiative/Traineeship/Return to Work.  
Breakdown became available for April 2012 Live Register release.   
4 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year.
5 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 February 2014 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 Social Protection.  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.

Reference Period

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

February 2014 – 1st February 2014 to 28st February 2014
February 2013 –26th January 2013 to 22nd February 2013

Unemployment statistics

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 Jobseeker’s Allowance and or Jobseeker’s Benefit.  Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey (formerly the Annual Labour Force Survey).

 

Standardised unemployment rates

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) series in Table 3 is based on the estimated number of persons unemployed expressed as a percentage of the total economically active population (i.e. the Labour Force), using internationally comparable definitions of employment and unemployment, as recommended by the International Labour Office. 

Official estimates of the number of persons unemployed and the unemployment rate are produced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). The QNHS is the only source of information on unemployment and employment which can apply standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology to the estimation of these key indicators. The background notes of the QNHS release contain more information on the ILO criteria. Given the timelag required to produce estimates from the QNHS and the quarterly periodicity, short-term trends in the Live Register are used to estimate more up-to-date monthly unemployment rates.

The seasonally adjusted QNHS estimate of unemployment is used as a benchmark for February (Quarter 1 QNHS), May (Quarter 2 QNHS), August (Quarter 3 QNHS) and November (Quarter 4 QNHS) each year. The latest QNHS benchmark is updated using the trend in the seasonally adjusted Live Register to allow the estimation of the SUR. Once new QNHS data is available it is used to revise the SUR series. The assumption underlying this methodology is that over short periods the change in the seasonally adjusted Live Register will represent accurately the change in unemployment which will be seen from the QNHS. This methodology has been used since the QNHS was first initiated at the end of 1997.

 

QNHS

The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS), which began in September 1997, replaced the Labour Force Survey and provides quarterly estimates of the unemployment rate. Up to and including the fourth quarter of 2008 the QNHS operated on a seasonal quarter basis.  As of the first quarter 2009 the QNHS is now undertaken on a calendar quarter basis.

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.

The calendar quarter estimates for Q4 2013 (adjusted for seasonality) are:

 

Q1

%

Q2

%

Q3

%

Q4

%

2008

5.0

5.7

6.9

 8.1

2009

10.2

12.1

12.6

13.0

2010

13.0

13.8

13.9

14.7

2011

14.4

14.4

14.8

14.9

2012

15.1

14.7

14.7

14.2

2013

13.8

13.6

12.7

12.1

 

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 claim).

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)

For information on the age-related changes to the OFP scheme from July 2013, please see the following link to the Department of Social Protection website:

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

 

Live Register Flows

Live Register flows data is sourced from information collected by the Department of Social Protection.  The aggregate of new registrations for each month is used in conjunction with the net change over the same period to calculate the outflow from the register.  A new registration is defined as anybody on the Live Register in a particular month who was not on it the previous month.  Inflows and outflows published in this release 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.

 

 

Live Register Area Analysis

The basis of the area analysis in Live Register statistics is the Department of Social Protection 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 Office of Registration refers to all persons signing on in Cork City but may include persons not resident in Cork City.  The latest available Live Register data by Province, County and Local Office of Registration will be released on the CSO website through the CSO StatBank one day after the publication of this release, see link below.

https://statbank.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?Maintable=LRM07&PLanguage=0

 

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 Department of Social Protection 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 on a bi-annual basis, at the following link:

https://statbank.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=LRM18&PLanguage=0

 

Casual and part-time workers

The casual and part-time workers’ figure is based on data supplied by the Department of Social Protection.  People may apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance if they only work for part of a week and be included on the Live Register.

 

Nationality

Data in the nationality grouping table is sourced from information collected by the Department of Social Protection 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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Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregisterfebruary2014/

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

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

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