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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 Brian Cahill (+353) 21 453 5173
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 2015

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedStandardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) %
February 2014398,069398,50012.0
January 2015358,672359,90010.3
February 2015355,124355,60010.1
   Percentage Points
Change in month-- 4,300-0.2
Change in year- 42,945--1.9

Standardised unemployment rate decreases to 10.1% in February

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

 

The standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in February 2015 was 10.1%, down from the revised figure of 10.3% in January 2015.  The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) was 10.4% in the fourth quarter of 2014. See table 3.

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 4,300 (-1.2%) in February 2015, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 355,600. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 355,124 people signing on the Live Register in February 2015.  This represents an annual decrease of 42,945 (-10.8%). See table 1(a).

 

 

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 3,200 (-1.5%) males in February 2015, while females decreased by 1,100 (-0.8%) over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 31,496 (-12.7%) to 215,885 in the year to February 2015, while female claimants decreased by 11,449 (-7.6%) to 139,239. This compares with a decrease of 25,474 (-9.3%) to 247,381 for males, while female claimants showed a decrease of 5,333 (-3.4%) to 150,688 in the year to February 2014. 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 2014 was 213,600.
0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
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
Mar 2014211897179335
Apr 2014210334178225
May 2014205394183370
June 2014209955188858
July 2014215845188670
Aug 2014210727187598
Sept 2014191662178388
Oct 2014187738170892
Nov 2014186175166472
Dec 2014191316164796
Jan 2015193828164844
Feb 2015192348162776

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in February 2015 was 162,776.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 16,836 (-13.6%) in the year to February 2015, while females decreased by 884 (-1.6%), giving an overall annual decrease of 17,720 (-9.8%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 7 and graph above.

In February 2015, 54.2% (192,348) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for February 2014 was 54.7% (217,573).  The annual fall of 25,225 (-11.6%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 14,660 (-11.8%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 10,565 (-11.3%) in female short term claimants. See table 7.

 


Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 72,155 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in February 2015, which represents 20.3% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 20.4% one year earlier when there were 81,204 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to February 2015 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 9,049 (-11.1%), with the number of males decreasing by 5,417 (-12.4%) and the number of females decreasing by 3,632 (-9.7%). See table 8.

 

 

Under 25 years25 years and over
February 201368361360515
February 201460232337837
February 201548524306600

Live Register age groups

In the year to February 2015 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 31,237 (-9.2%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 11,708 (-19.4%).  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 13.7% for February 2015, down from 15.1% in February 2014 and 15.9% in February 2013. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and graph above.

 

Live Register new registrants

There were 27,720 new registrants on the Live Register in February 2015, consisting of 11,373 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims, 14,952 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) claims and 1,395 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 53.3% (14,770) and females 46.7% (12,950) of all new registrants.  On average 3,693 male and 3,238 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.

 

 

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (20.0%) 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 12,732 (-15.2%) to 70,904.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Associate professional and technical group (-12.2%). The two smallest occupational groups in February were the Associate professional and technical and the Managers and administrators groups which accounted for 2.8% and 4.4% of the Live Register respectively. See table 6 and graph below.

 

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

Broad Occupational GroupFebruary 2013February 2014February 2015
1176641678615519
2240512173219336
312227112549885
4402173721633379
5975338363670904
6519095036146099
7461304411138897
8702186642758651
9488424595542581
10200852059119873
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 32,118 (-10.6%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 269,598 in February 2015, while JB claimants decreased to 50,845 (-16.2%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 75.9% of all persons on the Live Register in February 2015 compared with 75.8% 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 Mid-West region (-13.0%) followed by the Dublin region (-11.5%) and South-West at (-10.9%). See table 5.
  • In February Irish nationals accounted for 82.8% (294,114) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 61,010 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (35,166), followed by the UK (13,537). See table 9.

 

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of  January 2015 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 Annex – Live Register Activation Programmes table.

There were 85,080 people availing of these programmes in January 2015, which is an increase of 52 persons from the previous year, when there were 85,028 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 2014January 2015February 2015Monthly changeAnnual change
     
Males  
    JB Claims30,75526,00225,596-406-5,159
    JA Applications203,878180,500178,077-2,423-25,801
    Other Registrants12,74812,17612,212+36-536
    Total247,381218,678215,885-2,793-31,496
     
Females     
    JB Claims29,95325,48825,249-239-4,704
    JA Applications97,83892,01191,521-490-6,317
    Other Registrants22,89722,49522,469-26-428
    Total150,688139,994139,239-755-11,449
     
All Persons     
    JB Claims60,70851,49050,845-645-9,863
    JA Applications301,716272,511269,598-2,913-32,118
    Other Registrants35,64534,67134,681+10-964
    Total398,069358,672355,124-3,548-42,945
      
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 1(a) (XLS 32KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryFebruary 2014January 2015February 2015Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims1,8341,5281,555+27-279
    JA Applications34,04427,69327,144-549-6,900
    Other Registrants122114123+9+1
    Total36,00029,33528,822-513-7,178
      
Females     
    JB Claims1,8961,5441,551+7-345
    JA Applications22,15218,24817,995-253-4,157
    Other Registrants184162156-6-28
    Total24,23219,95419,702-252-4,530
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims3,7303,0723,106+34-624
    JA Applications56,19645,94145,139-802-11,057
    Other Registrants306276279+3-27
    Total60,23249,28948,524-765-11,708
      
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 1(b) (XLS 32KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryFebruary 2014January 2015February 2015Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims28,92124,47424,041-433-4,880
    JA Applications169,834152,807150,933-1,874-18,901
    Other Registrants12,62612,06212,089+27-537
    Total211,381189,343187,063-2,280-24,318
      
Females     
    JB Claims28,05723,94423,698-246-4,359
    JA Applications75,68673,76373,526-237-2,160
    Other Registrants22,71322,33322,313-20-400
    Total126,456120,040119,537-503-6,919
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims56,97848,41847,739-679-9,239
    JA Applications245,520226,570224,459-2,111-21,061
    Other Registrants35,33934,39534,402+7-937
    Total337,837309,383306,600-2,783-31,237
      
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 1(c) (XLS 31KB)
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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
         
2013February272,900156,000428,900 270,900158,200429,100
 March269,000156,100425,100 267,900158,100426,100
 April265,000152,600417,600 268,000158,100426,100
 May266,900154,800421,700 266,300158,000424,300
 June270,900164,400435,400 263,900157,900421,800
 July270,300171,700442,000 261,800157,200419,000
 August266,400168,800435,300 258,800156,500415,300
 September254,000154,600408,700 257,500156,200413,700
 October246,800149,800396,500 254,700155,200410,000
 November243,500148,000391,500 252,200154,800407,000
 December245,700149,700395,400 249,800153,900403,700
      
2014January248,700150,900399,600 247,600153,500401,100
 February247,400150,700398,100 245,600152,900398,500
 March243,200148,000391,200 243,600152,400395,900
 April239,500149,000388,600 240,900151,800392,700
 May240,400148,400388,800 239,400151,300390,700
 June242,700156,100398,800 236,500149,800386,300
 July241,300163,200404,500 233,800149,100382,900
 August238,100160,300398,300 231,300148,300379,700
 September224,800145,200370,100 228,000147,000375,000
 October217,800140,900358,600 225,100146,200371,300
 November214,700137,900352,600 222,500144,600367,200
 December216,300139,800356,100 220,000143,700363,700
      
2015January218,700140,000358,700 217,500142,400359,900
 February215,900139,200355,100 214,300141,300355,600
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 2(a) (XLS 34KB)
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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
         
2013February41,40027,00068,400 41,70027,90069,600
 March40,30026,20066,600 41,00027,40068,400
 April39,40025,60065,000 40,70027,50068,300
 May40,40026,90067,300 40,50027,50068,000
 June42,10029,20071,300 39,90027,10066,900
 July42,40030,20072,500 39,40026,70066,100
 August41,80030,10071,900 38,80026,50065,300
 September38,90027,30066,200 38,70026,50065,100
 October37,00025,60062,600 38,30026,30064,600
 November35,50024,20059,700 37,70026,00063,700
 December35,30023,80059,100 37,20025,80062,900
      
2014January36,10024,40060,500 36,70025,40062,100
 February36,00024,20060,200 36,30025,10061,400
 March35,30023,60058,900 35,90024,90060,800
 April34,20023,10057,200 35,30024,50059,800
 May34,90023,60058,500 34,90024,10058,900
 June36,00025,40061,400 34,10023,60057,700
 July35,90026,20062,100 33,40023,20056,600
 August35,40026,10061,500 32,90022,90055,800
 September32,10023,00055,100 32,00022,30054,300
 October30,10021,10051,200 31,20021,80053,000
 November29,00019,90048,900 30,80021,40052,200
 December28,60019,30047,900 30,10021,00051,100
        
2015January29,30020,00049,300 29,70020,80050,500
 February28,80019,70048,500 29,10020,40049,400
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 2(b) (XLS 33KB)
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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
         
2013February231,500129,000360,500 229,200130,300359,500
 March228,700129,900358,500 226,900130,800357,700
 April225,700127,000352,600 227,300130,500357,800
 May226,600127,900354,500 225,800130,500356,300
 June228,800135,200364,000 224,100130,800354,900
 July227,900141,500369,400 222,400130,500352,900
 August224,600138,700363,300 220,000130,000350,000
 September215,200127,300342,500 218,900129,700348,600
 October209,800124,100333,900 216,500128,900345,400
 November208,000123,700331,800 214,600128,700343,300
 December210,400125,900336,300 212,700128,100340,800
      
2014January212,600126,500339,100 210,900128,100338,900
 February211,400126,500337,800 209,400127,800337,100
 March207,900124,400332,400 207,700127,500335,200
 April205,400125,900331,300 205,600127,400333,000
 May205,500124,800330,200 204,600127,200331,800
 June206,700130,700337,400 202,400126,200328,600
 July205,400137,000342,400 200,400125,900326,200
 August202,600134,200336,800 198,500125,400323,900
 September192,700122,200314,900 196,000124,700320,700
 October187,700119,800307,400 193,800124,500318,300
 November185,700118,000303,800 191,700123,300315,000
 December187,800120,400308,200 189,800122,700312,500
      
2015January189,300120,000309,400 187,700121,600309,400
 February187,100119,500306,600 185,200120,900306,100
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 2(c) (XLS 34KB)
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Table 3 Seasonally Adjusted Standardised Unemployment Rates (SUR)1
Month2011201220132014 2015
 %%%% %
January14.515.013.912.1 10.3
February214.415.113.712.0 10.1
March14.414.913.611.8  
April14.414.813.611.6  
May214.414.713.511.5  
June14.514.813.311.3  
July14.714.713.011.2  
August214.814.712.711.1   
September14.714.512.610.9  
October14.814.412.410.7  
November214.914.312.310.43 
December15.014.112.210.4  
       
Annual average14.614.713.111.3  
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 2014, 10.4%.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 3 (XLS 33KB)
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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           
2014February430,7556,2556,529-69 29,9536,588     6,800-53
 March428,8644,7246,615-473 28,1294,694     6,518-456
 April 427,7514,8986,011-278 29,1216,108     5,116+248
 May526,2015,8117,361-310 26,5847,203     9,740-507
 June425,7804,6115,032-105 28,9447,078     4,718+590
 July425,6245,0085,164-39 33,7899,967     5,122+1,211
 August524,2015,0316,454-285 31,0935,978     8,674-539
 September422,1264,2476,322-519 24,1504,714     11,657-1,736
 October522,1296,3046,301+1 23,9816,242     6,411-34
 November422,5655,8445,408+109 23,5336,522     6,970-112
 December424,1094,8453,301+386 25,5115,300     3,322+495
            
2015January526,0028,7826,889+379 25,488     8,8408,863-5
 February425,5965,3965,802-102 25,249     5,9776,216-60
            
JA Applications           
2014February4203,8789,90511,040-284 97,8386,4746,566-23
 March4201,5438,75111,086-584 97,0885,6816,431-188
 April 4198,9747,92110,490-642 96,7885,4535,753-75
 May5201,41911,7079,262+489 98,8478,0836,024+412
 June4204,15710,3567,618+685 103,9199,2784,206+1,268
 July4203,0439,49610,610-279 105,6088,0616,372+422
 August5201,26311,33913,119-356 105,5908,0828,100-4
 September4190,33810,45621,381-2,731 98,2727,37614,694-1,830
 October5183,34912,58519,574-1,398 94,1848,18112,269-818
 November4179,94010,17613,585-852 91,8726,3468,658-578
 December4179,9987,8257,767+15 91,6484,7444,968-56
            
2015January5180,50011,06610,564+100 92,0117,2676,904+73
 February4178,0778,88911,312-606 91,5216,0636,553-123
            
Other Registrants           
2014February412,748641574+17 22,8971,003918+21
 March412,782515481+9 22,826792863-18
 April 412,816476442+9 23,109972689+71
 May512,794523545-4 22,9191,0721,262-38
 June412,760449483-9 23,2531,103769+84
 July412,650549659-28 23,8011,5641,016+137
 August512,598566618-10 23,5801,0641,285-44
 September412,355500743-61 22,8099241,695-193
 October512,294667728-12 22,6931,2601,376-23
 November412,221577650-18 22,5161,0601,237-44
 December412,232442431+3 22,614813715+25
            
2015January512,176604660-11 22,4951,1861,305-24
 February412,212485449+9 22,469910936-7
            
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 2015 Table 4 (XLS 38KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1February 2014January 2015February 2015Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western76,21967,98767,007-980-9,2129,30257,705
      Border34,56531,06730,563-504-4,0024,36026,203
      Midland19,58717,43517,238-197-2,3492,48014,758
      West22,06719,48519,206-279-2,8612,46216,744
        
      Southern and Eastern171,162150,691148,878-1,813-22,28419,520129,358
      Dublin61,16053,62353,194-429-7,9667,13346,061
      Mid-East23,37220,68420,376-308-2,9962,79817,578
      Mid-West20,81418,06417,719-345-3,0952,40015,319
      South-East32,94229,42828,971-457-3,9713,95225,019
      South-West32,87428,89228,618-274-4,2563,23725,381
      Total247,381218,678215,885-2,793-31,49628,822187,063
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western48,00045,20044,937-263-3,0636,69438,243
      Border21,51420,37420,222-152-1,2923,06917,153
      Midland12,26511,59111,560-31-7051,9069,654
      West14,22113,23513,155-80-1,0661,71911,436
        
      Southern and Eastern102,68894,79494,302-492-8,38613,00881,294
      Dublin34,51631,60931,450-159-3,0664,33127,119
      Mid-East15,19514,24614,173-73-1,0221,92712,246
      Mid-West12,90011,68811,610-78-1,2901,6799,931
      South-East19,64618,35118,195-156-1,4512,77115,424
      South-West20,43118,90018,874-26-1,5572,30016,574
      Total150,688139,994139,239-755-11,44919,702119,537
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western124,219113,187111,944-1,243-12,27515,99695,948
      Border56,07951,44150,785-656-5,2947,42943,356
      Midland31,85229,02628,798-228-3,0544,38624,412
      West36,28832,72032,361-359-3,9274,18128,180
        
      Southern and Eastern273,850245,485243,180-2,305-30,67032,528210,652
      Dublin95,67685,23284,644-588-11,03211,46473,180
      Mid-East38,56734,93034,549-381-4,0184,72529,824
      Mid-West33,71429,75229,329-423-4,3854,07925,250
      South-East52,58847,77947,166-613-5,4226,72340,443
      South-West53,30547,79247,492-300-5,8135,53741,955
      Total398,069358,672355,124-3,548-42,94548,524306,600
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 5 (XLS 35KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 Februay 2014January 2015Februay 2015Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators9,6589,0568,971-85-6872778,694
Professional10,0839,0848,900-184-1,1836118,289
Associate professional and technical 6,4485,7335,609-124-8396714,938
Clerical and secretarial10,3389,2859,098-187-1,2409928,106
Craft and related 76,41564,61163,875-736-12,5404,46559,410
Personal and protective service17,70815,93315,749-184-1,9591,82613,923
Sales17,23914,86314,840-23-2,3993,96610,874
Plant and machine operatives50,83544,75644,085-671-6,7505,34338,742
Other occupation35,95333,08932,651-438-3,3025,69126,960
No occupation112,70412,26812,107-161-5974,9807,127
Total 247,381218,678215,885-2,793-31,49628,822187,063
        
Females       
Managers and administrators7,1286,6756,548-127-5801026,446
Professional11,64910,68910,436-253-1,2136299,807
Associate professional and technical 4,8064,3494,276-73-5303283,948
Clerical and secretarial26,87824,41224,281-131-2,5971,21423,067
Craft and related 7,2217,0297,0290-1928836,146
Personal and protective service32,65330,53730,350-187-2,3034,32626,024
Sales26,87223,90824,057+149-2,8154,62619,431
Plant and machine operatives15,59214,56014,566+6-1,0261,96812,598
Other occupation10,0029,9439,930-13-722,5367,394
No occupation17,8877,8927,766-126-1213,0904,676
Total150,688139,994139,239-755-11,44919,702119,537
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators16,78615,73115,519-212-1,26737915,140
Professional21,73219,77319,336-437-2,3961,24018,096
Associate professional and technical 11,25410,0829,885-197-1,3699998,886
Clerical and secretarial37,21633,69733,379-318-3,8372,20631,173
Craft and related 83,63671,64070,904-736-12,7325,34865,556
Personal and protective service50,36146,47046,099-371-4,2626,15239,947
Sales44,11138,77138,897+126-5,2148,59230,305
Plant and machine operatives66,42759,31658,651-665-7,7767,31151,340
Other occupation45,95543,03242,581-451-3,3748,22734,354
No occupation120,59120,16019,873-287-7188,07011,803
Total 398,069358,672355,124-3,548-42,94548,524306,600
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 6 (XLS 36KB)
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Table 7 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 February 2014January 2015February 2015Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males
   Less than one year123,915110,349109,255-1,094-14,66018,93090,325
   One year or more123,466108,329106,630-1,699-16,8369,89296,738
   Total247,381218,678215,885-2,793-31,49628,822187,063
       
Females       
   Less than one year93,65883,47983,093-386-10,56513,89369,200
   One year or more57,03056,51556,146-369-8845,80950,337
   Total150,688139,994139,239-755-11,44919,702119,537
       
All Persons       
   Less than one year217,573193,828192,348-1,480-25,22532,823159,525
   One year or more180,496164,844162,776-2,068-17,72015,701147,075
   Total398,069358,672355,124-3,548-42,94548,524306,600
        
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 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
         
2013February 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
 March 43,032-828 36,779-565 79,811-1,393
 April 42,207-825 36,158-621 78,365-1,446
 May 41,310-897 35,452-706 76,762-1,603
 June 41,083-227 35,478+26 76,561-201
 July 40,562-521 35,168-310 75,730-831
 August 39,709-853 34,417-751 74,126-1,604
 September 38,481-1,228 33,263-1,154 71,744-2,382
 October 38,275-206 33,177-86 71,452-292
 November 38,714+439 33,563+386 72,277+825
 December 38,681-33 33,681+118 72,362+85
          
2015January 38,549-132 33,536-145 72,085-277
 February 38,443-106 33,712+176 72,155+70
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 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  
          
2013February16,7993,85342,56113,616 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
 March14,9183,65038,58711,267 68,422322,810391,232
 April 14,7573,63837,86711,133 67,395321,164388,559
 May14,6823,64837,09211,388 66,810321,954388,764
 June15,0343,75136,77211,793 67,350331,463398,813
 July15,1733,71236,39911,656 66,940337,575404,515
 August14,9853,67435,44511,280 65,384332,941398,325
 September14,0753,49433,84310,099 61,511308,539370,050
 October13,6873,46033,3249,420 59,891298,739358,630
 November13,5493,64133,5789,133 59,901292,746352,647
 December13,6323,64434,0909,074 60,440295,672356,112
        
2015January13,6653,68835,2198,916 61,488297,184358,672
 February13,5373,60135,1668,706 61,010294,114355,124
1With the addition of Croatia from July 2013, EU15- EU28
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 Table 9 (XLS 35KB)
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Table 10 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 February 2012February 2013February 2014February 2015
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males283,45064.5272,85563.6247,38162.1215,88560.8
Females155,97235.5156,02136.4150,68837.9139,23939.2
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years74,93617.168,36115.960,23215.148,52413.7
25 years and over364,48682.9360,51584.1337,83784.9306,60086.3
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims103,25423.585,80420.060,70815.350,84514.3
JA Applications304,68369.3309,15572.1301,71675.8269,59875.9
Other Registrants31,4857.233,9177.935,6459.034,6819.8
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year254,86758.0239,40955.8217,57354.7192,34854.2
One year or more184,55542.0189,46744.2180,49645.3162,77645.8
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals360,66782.1352,04782.1328,37782.5294,11482.8
Non-Irish Nationals78,75517.976,82917.969,69217.561,01017.2
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western135,34330.8133,29231.1124,21931.2111,94431.5
Southern and Eastern304,07969.2295,58468.9273,85068.8243,18068.5
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators16,9113.817,6644.116,7864.215,5194.4
Professional23,6955.424,0515.621,7325.519,3365.4
Associate professional and technical12,2472.812,2272.911,2542.89,8852.8
Clerical and secretarial41,9559.540,2179.437,2169.333,3799.4
Craft and related 106,23424.297,53322.783,63621.070,90420.0
Personal and protective service52,72212.051,90912.150,36112.746,09913.0
Sales46,97210.746,13010.844,11111.138,89711.0
Plant and machine operatives71,03516.270,21816.466,42716.758,65116.5
Other occupation49,69811.348,84211.445,95511.542,58112.0
No occupation217,9534.120,0854.720,5915.219,8735.6
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work351,20879.9339,09679.1316,86579.6282,96979.7
Casual and part-time work88,21420.189,78020.981,20420.472,15520.3
Total439,422100.0428,876100.0398,069100.0355,124100.0
         
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 2015 Table 10 (XLS 16KB)
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Live Register Activation Programmes     
 January 2014December 2014 January 2015
Back to Work Schemes     
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand193 2
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand10,16011,166 11,180
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 488479 440
Total Back to Work payments 10,65711,648 11,622
     
Other Activation Programmes     
DSP Part-time Job Incentive296397 397
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 7,1197,877 7,865
JobBridge (2011)6,4406,371 6,220
Total Other Activation Programmes13,85514,645 14,482
         
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 22,51223,249 22,927
     
FAS Full Time Training for Unemployed People(3) 8,2768,771 7,552
         
Back to Education Courses     
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)4N/AN/A N/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)524,72823,366523,497
Total Back to Education Courses 29,72828,366 28,497
         
Total Activation Programmes85,02886,679 85,080
     
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.  
4 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year.
5 BTEA figure for December 2014 revised.
6 BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.
Open in Excel: Live Register February 2015 - 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 2015 – 31st January to 27th February 2015
February 2014 – 1st February to 28th February 2014

 

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 2014 (adjusted for seasonality) are:

 

Q1

%

Q2

%

Q3

%

Q4

%

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

14.3

2013

13.7

13.5

12.7

12.3

2014

12.0

11.5

 11.1 10.4

 

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)

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 and 1,300 people in July 2014, 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 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 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 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, to see these please click here.

 

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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http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregisterfebruary2015/

Contact:

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Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
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E-Mail:
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