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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

March 2014

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedStandardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) %
March 2013425,088426,90013.7
February 2014398,069398,70011.9
March 2014391,232396,90011.8
   Percentage Points
Change in month--1,800-0.1
Change in year-33,856--1.9

Seasonally adjusted Live Register stands at 396,900 in March

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

 

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1,800 in March 2014, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 396,900. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 391,232 people signing on the Live Register in March 2014.  This represents an annual decrease of 33,856 (-8.0%). See table 1(a).

The standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in March 2014 was 11.8%, down from 11.9% in February 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 1,400 males in March 2014, while females decreased by 300 over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 25,807 (-9.6%) to 243,189 over the year while female claimants decreased by 8,049 (-5.2%) to 148,043. This compares with a decrease of 11,247 (-4.0%) to 268,996 for males and an increase of 2,281(+1.5%) to 156,092 for females in the year to March 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.

 

0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
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
Mar 2014211897179335

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in March 2014 was 179,335.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 9,455 (-7.2%) in the year to March 2014, while females increased by 894 (+1.6%), giving an overall annual decrease of 8,561 (-4.6%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 7 and graph above.

In March 2014, 54.2% (211,897) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for March 2013 was 55.8% (237,192).  The annual fall of 25,295 (-10.7%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 16,352 (-11.9%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 8,943 (-8.9%) in female short term claimants. See table 7.

 

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 79,811 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in March 2014, which represents 20.4% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 21.1% one year earlier when there were 89,798 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to March 2014 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 9,987 (-11.1%), with the number of males decreasing by 5,929 (-12.1%) and the number of females decreasing by 4,058 (-9.9%). See table 8.

 

 

Under 25 years25 years and over
Mar 201272953361101
Mar 201366552358536
Mar 201458880332352

Live Register age groups

In the year to March 2014 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 26,184 (-7.3%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 7,672 (-11.5%).  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 15.0% for March 2014, down from 15.7% in March 2013 and 16.8% in March 2012. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and graph above.

 

Live Register new registrants

There were 25,157 new registrants on the Live Register in March 2014, consisting of 9,418 JB claims, 14,432 JA claims and 1,307 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 55.6% (13,990) and females 44.4% (11,167) of all new registrants.  On average 3,498 male and 2,792 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 GroupMarch 2012March 2013March 2014
1168361743816548
2230572398021270
3122101214711058
4409774091736241
51049469573382268
6519315154949223
7466104574743629
8704406967065240
9491044811145200
10179431979620555
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 8.0% in the number of people on the Live Register in March the main other points which can be noted include:

  • An annual decrease of 7,730 (-2.5%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 298,631 in March 2014, while JB claimants decreased to 56,993 (-32.5%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 76.3% of all persons on the Live Register in March 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 (-9.9%) followed by the Mid-West region (-9.1%). See table 5.
  • Craft and related (21.0%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in March, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 13,465 (-14.1%) to 82,268.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Clerical and secretarial group (-11.4%). See table 6 and graph above.
  • In March Irish nationals accounted for 82.5% (322,810) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 68,422 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (38,587), followed by the UK (14,918). 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 February 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 Annex – Live Register Activation Programmes table.

There were 85,119 people availing of these programmes in February 2014, which is an increase of 1,698 (+2.0%) from the previous year, when there were 83,421 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
CategoryMarch 2013February 2014March 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims43,69430,75528,864-1,891-14,830
    JA Applications213,055203,878201,543-2,335-11,512
    Other Registrants12,24712,74812,782+34+535
    Total268,996247,381243,189-4,192-25,807
      
Females     
    JB Claims40,73929,95328,129-1,824-12,610
    JA Applications93,30697,83897,088-750+3,782
    Other Registrants22,04722,89722,826-71+779
    Total156,092150,688148,043-2,645-8,049
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims84,43360,70856,993-3,715-27,440
    JA Applications306,361301,716298,631-3,085-7,730
    Other Registrants34,29435,64535,608-37+1,314
    Total425,088398,069391,232-6,837-33,856
      
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2013February 2014March 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims2,9121,8341,765-69-1,147
    JA Applications37,30734,04433,387-657-3,920
    Other Registrants101122117-5+16
    Total40,32036,00035,269-731-5,051
      
Females     
    JB Claims2,7351,8961,778-118-957
    JA Applications23,27922,15221,658-494-1,621
    Other Registrants218184175-9-43
    Total26,23224,23223,611-621-2,621
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims5,6473,7303,543-187-2,104
    JA Applications60,58656,19655,045-1,151-5,541
    Other Registrants319306292-14-27
    Total66,55260,23258,880-1,352-7,672
      
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2013February 2014March 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims40,78228,92127,099-1,822-13,683
    JA Applications175,748169,834168,156-1,678-7,592
    Other Registrants12,14612,62612,665+39+519
    Total228,676211,381207,920-3,461-20,756
      
Females     
    JB Claims38,00428,05726,351-1,706-11,653
    JA Applications70,02775,68675,430-256+5,403
    Other Registrants21,82922,71322,651-62+822
    Total129,860126,456124,432-2,024-5,428
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims78,78656,97853,450-3,528-25,336
    JA Applications245,775245,520243,586-1,934-2,189
    Other Registrants33,97535,33935,316-23+1,341
    Total358,536337,837332,352-5,485-26,184
      
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2012March280,200153,800434,100 279,900157,100437,000
 April277,400152,600430,000 279,400157,000436,500
 May278,800154,100432,900 279,000157,600436,500
 June286,700165,300452,000 279,600158,900438,400
 July287,800172,500460,300 278,900158,000436,900
 August286,600169,600456,300 278,400157,100435,500
 September273,800155,500429,300 277,500157,000434,500
 October268,500151,600420,200 276,800157,000433,700
 November266,400150,900417,300 275,400157,500432,900
 December269,900153,800423,700 274,000157,900431,900
         
2013January273,600155,800429,400 272,400158,400430,800
 February272,900156,000428,900 271,000158,200429,200
 March269,000156,100425,100 268,600158,300426,900
 April265,000152,600417,600 267,800158,200426,000
 May266,900154,800421,700 266,900158,200425,100
 June270,900164,400435,400 264,000157,900421,900
 July270,300171,700442,000 261,700157,300419,000
 August266,400168,800435,300 258,900156,600415,500
 September254,000154,600408,700 257,200156,100413,300
 October246,800149,800396,500 254,200155,200409,400
 November243,500148,000391,500 251,800154,400406,200
 December245,700149,700395,400 249,600153,700403,200
         
2014January248,700150,900399,600 247,700153,300401,000
 February247,400150,700398,100 245,800152,800398,700
 March243,200148,000391,200 244,400152,500396,900
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
         
2012March45,20027,80073,000 45,90029,30075,100
 April43,90027,00070,900 45,50029,00074,400
 May44,50028,20072,600 45,10028,90074,000
 June47,60031,50079,100 45,20029,10074,300
 July48,10032,60080,700 44,80028,80073,600
 August47,90032,50080,400 44,60028,60073,200
 September44,40029,30073,700 44,10028,40072,500
 October42,20027,70069,900 43,50028,30071,800
 November40,70026,50067,200 42,90028,30071,200
 December40,80026,20066,900 42,50028,20070,700
         
2013January41,50026,90068,400 42,10028,10070,100
 February41,40027,00068,400 41,70028,00069,700
 March40,30026,20066,600 41,10027,50068,600
 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 38,90026,50065,400
 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 37,00025,60062,600
         
2014January36,10024,40060,500 36,70025,40062,100
 February36,00024,20060,200 36,30025,20061,500
 March35,30023,60058,900 36,00025,10061,100
1 Table contains revised figures.
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
         
2012March235,100126,000361,100 234,000127,900361,900
 April233,500125,600359,100 234,000128,100362,000
 May234,300126,000360,300 233,800128,600362,500
 June239,100133,800372,900 234,400129,700364,100
 July239,700139,900379,600 234,100129,200363,200
 August238,800137,100375,900 233,900128,500362,300
 September229,400126,300355,600 233,400128,500362,000
 October226,300123,900350,300 233,300128,700362,000
 November225,700124,500350,100 232,500129,300361,700
 December229,100127,700356,800 231,400129,800361,200
         
2013January232,200128,900361,000 230,400130,300360,600
 February231,500129,000360,500 229,300130,200359,500
 March228,700129,900358,500 227,500130,700358,200
 April225,700127,000352,600 227,000130,600357,600
 May226,600127,900354,500 226,000130,600356,600
 June228,800135,200364,000 224,100130,900355,000
 July227,900141,500369,400 222,300130,600352,900
 August224,600138,700363,300 220,000130,100350,000
 September215,200127,300342,500 218,700129,700348,300
 October209,800124,100333,900 216,200129,000345,200
 November208,000123,700331,800 214,300128,500342,800
 December210,400125,900336,300 212,600128,000340,700
         
2014January212,600126,500339,100 211,000127,900338,900
 February211,400126,500337,800 209,600127,700337,200
 March207,900124,400332,400 208,400127,400335,800
1 Table contains revised figures.
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
March13.214.414.913.7 11.8
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%.
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           
2013March543,6947,4679,259-358 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
 March428,8644,7246,615-473 28,1294,694     6,518-456
            
JA Applications           
2013March5213,05511,59613,823-445 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
 March4201,5438,75111,086-584 97,0885,6816,431-188
            
Other Registrants           
2013March512,247776616+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
 March412,782515481+9 22,826792863-18
            
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 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1March 2013February 2014March 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western82,58376,21974,952-1,267-7,63111,21363,739
      Border37,77534,56533,985-580-3,7905,17328,812
      Midland20,89919,58719,323-264-1,5763,03616,287
      West23,90922,06721,644-423-2,2653,00418,640
        
      Southern and Eastern186,413171,162168,237-2,925-18,17624,056144,181
      Dublin66,37761,16060,633-527-5,7448,98751,646
      Mid-East25,75323,37223,083-289-2,6703,28319,800
      Mid-West22,67620,81420,261-553-2,4152,95117,310
      South-East35,48432,94232,223-719-3,2614,79727,426
      South-West36,12332,87432,037-837-4,0864,03827,999
      Total268,996247,381243,189-4,192-25,80735,269207,920
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western49,63048,00047,192-808-2,4387,73539,457
      Border22,06521,51421,078-436-9873,45417,624
      Midland12,45612,26512,148-117-3082,2129,936
      West15,10914,22113,966-255-1,1432,06911,897
        
      Southern and Eastern106,462102,688100,851-1,837-5,61115,87684,975
      Dublin35,62034,51634,164-352-1,4565,58328,581
      Mid-East15,56915,19515,023-172-5462,24712,776
      Mid-West13,49212,90012,616-284-8762,05710,559
      South-East20,43019,64619,279-367-1,1513,17816,101
      South-West21,35120,43119,769-662-1,5822,81116,958
      Total156,092150,688148,043-2,645-8,04923,611124,432
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western132,213124,219122,144-2,075-10,06918,948103,196
      Border59,84056,07955,063-1,016-4,7778,62746,436
      Midland33,35531,85231,471-381-1,8845,24826,223
      West39,01836,28835,610-678-3,4085,07330,537
        
      Southern and Eastern292,875273,850269,088-4,762-23,78739,932229,156
      Dublin101,99795,67694,797-879-7,20014,57080,227
      Mid-East41,32238,56738,106-461-3,2165,53032,576
      Mid-West36,16833,71432,877-837-3,2915,00827,869
      South-East55,91452,58851,502-1,086-4,4127,97543,527
      South-West57,47453,30551,806-1,499-5,6686,84944,957
      Total425,088398,069391,232-6,837-33,85658,880332,352
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 March 2013February 2014March 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators10,0829,6589,524-134-5583189,206
Professional11,01710,0839,947-136-1,0708039,144
Associate professional and technical 6,8686,4486,353-95-5158345,519
Clerical and secretarial11,25310,33810,136-202-1,1171,2288,908
Craft and related 88,22076,41575,101-1,314-13,1196,18468,917
Personal and protective service18,51317,70817,297-411-1,2162,31314,984
Sales17,95517,23917,018-221-9374,98712,031
Plant and machine operatives54,01150,83549,792-1,043-4,2196,21143,581
Other occupation38,57735,95335,344-609-3,2336,70828,636
No occupation112,50012,70412,677-27+1775,6836,994
Total 268,996247,381243,189-4,192-25,80735,269207,920
        
Females       
Managers and administrators7,3567,1287,024-104-3321766,848    
Professional12,96311,64911,323-326-1,64077610,547
Associate professional and technical 5,2794,8064,705-101-5744344,271    
Clerical and secretarial29,66426,87826,105-773-3,5591,51624,589
Craft and related 7,5137,2217,167-54-3469506,217
Personal and protective service33,03632,65331,926-727-1,1105,48926,437    
Sales27,79226,87226,611-261-1,1815,87020,741    
Plant and machine operatives15,65915,59215,448-144-2112,26213,186
Other occupation9,53410,0029,856-146+3222,7317,125
No occupation17,2967,8877,878-9+5823,4074,471
Total156,092150,688148,043-2,645-8,04923,611124,432
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators17,43816,78616,548-238-89049416,054
Professional23,98021,73221,270-462-2,7101,57919,691
Associate professional and technical 12,14711,25411,058-196-1,0891,2689,790
Clerical and secretarial40,91737,21636,241-975-4,6762,74433,497
Craft and related 95,73383,63682,268-1,368-13,4657,13475,134
Personal and protective service51,54950,36149,223-1,138-2,3267,80241,421
Sales45,74744,11143,629-482-2,11810,85732,772
Plant and machine operatives69,67066,42765,240-1,187-4,4308,47356,767
Other occupation48,11145,95545,200-755-2,9119,43935,761
No occupation119,79620,59120,555-36+7599,09011,465
Total 425,088398,069391,232-6,837-33,85658,880332,352
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Table 7 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 March 2013February 2014March 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males       
   Less than one year137,071123,915120,719-3,196-16,35222,12398,596
   One year or more131,925123,466122,470-996-9,45513,146109,324
   Total268,996247,381243,189-4,192-25,80735,269207,920
        
Females       
   Less than one year100,12193,65891,178-2,480-8,94316,34674,832
   One year or more55,97157,03056,865-165+8947,26549,600
   Total156,092150,688148,043-2,645-8,04923,611124,432
        
All Persons       
   Less than one year237,192217,573211,897-5,676-25,29538,469173,428
   One year or more187,896180,496179,335-1,161-8,56120,411158,924
   Total425,088398,069391,232-6,837-33,85658,880332,352
        
Table 8 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
   MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
         
2012March 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
 March 43,032-828 36,779-565 79,811-1,393
           
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  
          
2012March17,5213,60843,02513,926 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
 March14,9183,65038,58711,267 68,422322,810391,232
          
1With the addition of Croatia from July 2013, EU15- EU28
Table 10 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 March 2011March 2012March 2013March 2014
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males290,22565.8280,24364.6268,99663.3243,18962.2
Females150,96834.2153,81135.4156,09236.7148,04337.8
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years81,35618.472,95316.866,55215.758,88015.0
25 years and over359,83781.6361,10183.2358,53684.3332,35285.0
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims120,06727.298,97222.884,43319.956,99314.6
JA Applications292,87666.4302,85469.8306,36172.1298,63176.3
Other Registrants28,2506.432,2287.434,2948.135,6089.1
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year274,56662.2249,58957.5237,19255.8211,89754.2
One year or more166,62737.8184,46542.5187,89644.2179,33545.8
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals362,59982.2355,97482.0349,24282.2322,81082.5
Non-Irish Nationals78,59417.878,08018.075,84617.868,42217.5
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western136,04930.8133,30630.7132,21331.1122,14431.2
Southern and Eastern305,14469.2300,74869.3292,87568.9269,08868.8
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators17,0523.916,8363.917,4384.116,5484.2
Professional23,2555.323,0575.323,9805.621,2705.4
Associate professional and technical12,7772.912,2102.812,1472.911,0582.8
Clerical and secretarial41,7539.540,9779.440,9179.636,2419.3
Craft and related 114,42725.9104,94624.295,73322.582,26821.0
Personal and protective service51,02511.651,93112.051,54912.149,22312.6
Sales45,63810.346,61010.745,74710.843,62911.2
Plant and machine operatives70,41616.070,44016.269,67016.465,24016.7
Other occupation49,56011.249,10411.348,11111.345,20011.6
No occupation215,2903.517,9434.119,7964.720,5555.3
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work355,03880.5345,33879.6335,29078.9311,42179.6
Casual and part-time work86,15519.588,71620.489,79821.179,81120.4
Total441,193100.0434,054100.0425,088100.0391,232100.0
         
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.
Live Register Activation Programmes    
 February 2013January 2014February 2014
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand11399
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand10,74710,16010,212
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 988488469
Total Back to Work payments 11,74810,65710,690
    
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive215296285
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 4,6017,1197,272
JobBridge (2011)5,8326,4406,541
Total Other Activation Programmes10,64813,85514,098
        
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 21,07522,51222,729
    
FAS Full Time Training for Unemployed People3 9,3798,2768,2764
        
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)5N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)625,57124,72824,326
Total Back to Education Courses 30,57129,72829,326
        
Total Activation Programmes83,42185,02885,119
    
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 Estimated at January 2014 as data for February 2014 not available.
5 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year.
6 BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.
Includes MOMENTUM participants from February 2013.   

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: 

March 2014 – 1st March 2014 to 28th March 2014
March 2013 –23rd February 2013 to 29th March 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 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 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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