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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Martina O'Callaghan (+353) 21 453 5491 Catalina Gonzalez (+353) 21 453 5163
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

March 2016

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
March 2015348,676351,700
February 2016319,723320,700
March 2016315,600317,800
   
Change in month-- 2,900
Change in year- 33,076-

Seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreases by 2,900 in March

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 2,900 (-0.9%) in March 2016, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 317,800. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 315,600 people signing on the Live Register in March 2016. This represents an annual decrease of 33,076 (-9.5%). See table 1(a).

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 2,900 (-1.5%) males in March 2016, while females decreased by 100 (-0.1%) over the same period. See table 2(a).

  • The number of male claimants decreased by 25,705 (-12.1%) to 186,330 in the year to March 2016, while female claimants decreased by 7,371 (-5.4%) to 129,270.  This compares with a decrease of 31,154 (-12.8%) to 212,035 for males, while female claimants decreased by 11,402 (-7.7%) to 136,641 in the year to March 2015. See table 1(a).

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) has been discontinued and has been replaced by the Monthly Unemployment release which is available here.

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.

 

0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
Mar 2014211897179335
Apr 2014210334178225
May 2014205394183370
June 2014209955188858
July 2014215845188670
Aug 2014210727187598
Sept 2014191662178388
Oct 2014187738170892
Nov 2014186175166472
Dec 2014191316164796
Jan 2015193828164844
Feb 2015192348162776
Mar 2015188273160403
April 2015185063158488
May 2015183749161884
June 2015190032166488
July 2015198206165422
Aug 2015194807164269
Sept 2015175947156854
Oct 2015171191149603
Nov 2015169793146793
Dec 2015175442146174
Jan 2016176347145455
Feb 2016176245143478
Mar 2016174600141000

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in March 2016 was 141,000.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 15,410 (-14.7%) in the year to March 2016, while females decreased by 3,993 (-7.2%), giving an overall annual decrease of 19,403 (-12.1%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 6 and figure 2.

In March 2016, 55.3% (174,600) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for March 2015 was 54.0% (188,273).  The annual fall of 13,673 (-7.3%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 10,295 (-9.6%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 3,378 (-4.2%) in female short term claimants. See table 6.

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 65,477 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in March 2016, which represents 20.7% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 20.5% one year earlier when there were 71,404 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to March 2016 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 5,927 (-8.3%), with the number of males decreasing by 3,702 (-9.7%) and the number of females decreasing by 2,225 (-6.7%). See table 7.

Under 25 years25 years and over
March 201458880332352
March 201547058301618
March 201638391277209

Live Register age groups

In the year to March 2016 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 24,409 (-8.1%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 8,667 (-18.4%).  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 12.2% for March 2016, down from 13.5% in March 2015 and 15.0% in March 2014. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and figure 3.

Live Register new registrants

There were 26,876 new registrants on the Live Register in March 2016, consisting of 11,319 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims, 14,164 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) claims and 1,393 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 51.6% (13,874) and females 48.4% (13,002) of all new registrants.  On average 2,775 male and 2,600 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 3.

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (19.1%) 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 9,475 (-13.6%) to 60,284.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Plant and machine operatives group, which decreased by 11.3%. The two smallest occupational groups in March 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 5 and figure 4.

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 GroupMarch 2014March 2015March 2016
1165481535613994
2212701880617578
31105896148960
4362413252931942
5822686975960284
6492234481241137
7436293843634321
8652405761351092
9452004201737569
10205551973418723
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 27,684 (-10.4%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 238,038 in March 2016, while JB claimants decreased to 45,533 (-6.3%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 75.4% of all persons on the Live Register in March 2016 compared with 76.2% 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 (-11.4%) followed by the Mid-East region (-10.0%). See table 4.

  • In March, Irish nationals accounted for 82.8% (261,464) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 54,136 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (31,014), followed by the UK (11,876). See table 8.

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of February 2016 on the number of people availing of a range of programmes targeted primarily at the long-term unemployed (over 12 months) and other welfare recipients is provided in the Annex – Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes table

There were 79,009 people availing of these programmes in February 2016, which is a decrease of 8,616 persons (-9.8%) from the previous year, when there were 87,625 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 2015February 2016March 2016Monthly changeAnnual change
     
Males  
    JB Claims24,69922,71121,864-847-2,835
    JA Applications175,224156,481153,459-3,022-21,765
    Other Registrants12,11211,05611,007-49-1,105
    Total212,035190,248186,330-3,918-25,705
     
Females     
    JB Claims23,87422,83923,669+830-205
    JA Applications90,49885,55884,579-979-5,919
    Other Registrants22,26921,07821,022-56-1,247
    Total136,641129,475129,270-205-7,371
     
All Persons     
    JB Claims48,57345,55045,533-17-3,040
    JA Applications265,722242,039238,038-4,001-27,684
    Other Registrants34,38132,13432,029-105-2,352
    Total348,676319,723315,600-4,123-33,076
      
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 1(a) (XLS 32KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2015February 2016March 2016Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims1,5451,4561,356-100-189
    JA Applications26,36422,13121,302-829-5,062
    Other Registrants1159591-4-24
    Total28,02423,68222,749-933-5,275
      
Females     
    JB Claims1,4241,3031,281-22-143
    JA Applications17,45614,68014,245-435-3,211
    Other Registrants154119116-3-38
    Total19,03416,10215,642-460-3,392
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims2,9692,7592,637-122-332
    JA Applications43,82036,81135,547-1,264-8,273
    Other Registrants269214207-7-62
    Total47,05839,78438,391-1,393-8,667
      
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 1(b) (XLS 32KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2015February 2016March 2016Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims23,15421,25520,508-747-2,646
    JA Applications148,860134,350132,157-2,193-16,703
    Other Registrants11,99710,96110,916-45-1,081
    Total184,011166,566163,581-2,985-20,430
      
Females     
    JB Claims22,45021,53622,388852-62
    JA Applications73,04270,87870,334-544-2,708
    Other Registrants22,11520,95920,906-53-1,209
    Total117,607113,373113,628255-3,979
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims45,60442,79142,896105-2,708
    JA Applications221,902205,228202,491-2,737-19,411
    Other Registrants34,11231,92031,822-98-2,290
    Total301,618279,939277,209-2,730-24,409
      
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 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
         
2014March243,200148,000391,200 244,000153,000397,000
 April239,500149,000388,600 240,800152,200393,000
May240,400148,400388,800 239,600151,200390,800
 June242,700156,100398,800 236,300149,700386,100
 July241,300163,200404,500 233,700148,600382,300
 August238,100160,300398,300 231,000147,800378,800
 September224,800145,200370,100 227,700146,700374,400
 October217,800140,900358,600 225,100145,900371,000
 November214,700137,900352,600 222,600144,600367,200
 December216,300139,800356,100 219,900143,800363,600
         
2015January218,700140,000358,700 217,600142,800360,400
 February215,900139,200355,100 214,400141,700356,100
March212,000136,600348,700 211,900139,800351,700
 April208,300135,200343,600 210,000139,900349,900
 May208,700137,000345,600 207,800139,600347,400
 June211,400145,100356,500 206,000139,000345,000
 July210,300153,300363,600 203,800139,000342,800
 August208,400150,700359,100 202,200138,500340,700
 September197,500135,300332,800 200,100136,800336,900
 October189,700131,100320,800 196,300135,900332,200
 November188,200128,400316,600 195,100134,900330,100
 December191,200130,400321,600 194,200134,100328,300
        
2016January191,800130,000321,800 190,700132,900323,700
 February190,200129,500319,700 188,800131,900320,700
 March186,300129,300315,600 185,900131,800317,800
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 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
         
2014March35,30023,60058,900 35,90025,10061,000
 April34,20023,10057,200 35,30024,50059,800
 May34,90023,60058,500 34,90023,90058,800
 June36,00025,40061,400 34,00023,50057,600
 July35,90026,20062,100 33,40023,10056,500
 August35,40026,10061,500 32,80022,80055,600
 September32,10023,00055,100 31,90022,30054,200
 October30,10021,10051,200 31,30021,80053,100
 November29,00019,90048,900 30,90021,50052,400
 December28,60019,30047,900 30,20021,10051,300
         
2015January29,30020,00049,300 29,80020,90050,600
 February28,80019,70048,500 29,00020,40049,500
 March28,00019,00047,100 28,50020,10048,600
 April27,30018,50045,900 28,20019,80047,900
 May27,80019,30047,100 27,60019,50047,200
 June28,80020,70049,500 27,20019,10046,400
 July28,80021,50050,300 26,80018,90045,700
 August28,60021,30049,900 26,40018,60045,000
 September26,30018,80045,200 26,10018,20044,300
 October24,10017,00041,100 25,10017,60042,800
 November23,30016,10039,400 24,80017,40042,300
 December23,20015,60038,700 24,50017,10041,600
         
2016January23,70016,10039,800 24,10016,80040,900
 February23,70016,10039,800 23,80016,70040,500
 March22,70015,60038,400 23,20016,40039,600
1 Table contains revised figures.     
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 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
         
2014March207,900124,400332,400 208,100127,900336,000
 April205,400125,900331,300 205,500127,700333,200
May205,500124,800330,200 204,700127,300332,000
 June206,700130,700337,400 202,300126,200328,500
 July205,400137,000342,400 200,300125,500325,800
 August202,600134,200336,800 198,200125,000323,200
 September192,700122,200314,900 195,800124,400320,200
 October187,700119,800307,400 193,800124,100317,900
 November185,700118,000303,800 191,700123,100314,800
 December187,800120,400308,200 189,700122,700312,300
         
2015January189,300120,000309,400 187,800122,000309,800
 February187,100119,500306,600 185,400121,300306,700
March184,000117,600301,600 183,300119,800303,100
 April181,000116,700297,700 181,900120,100302,000
 May180,900117,600298,500 180,200120,100300,300
 June182,600124,400307,000 178,700119,900298,600
 July181,500131,900313,300 177,000120,100297,100
 August179,800129,400309,200 175,800119,900295,700
 September171,200116,400287,600 174,000118,600292,600
 October165,600114,100279,700 171,100118,300289,400
 November164,900112,300277,200 170,300117,500287,800
 December168,100114,800282,900 169,700117,100286,700
         
2016January168,000114,000282,000 166,600116,100282,800
 February166,600113,400279,900 165,000115,300280,200
 March163,600113,600277,200 162,800115,400278,200
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 2(c) (XLS 34KB)
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Table 3 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           
2015March424,6994,6435,540-224 23,874     4,1915,566-344
 April 423,5635,1406,276-284 23,356     7,5928,110-130
 May522,7195,2576,101-169 22,815     5,2255,766-108
 June422,4984,3514,572-55 25,296     6,5554,074+620
 July522,4665,8055,837-6 31,269     11,3775,404+1,195
 August421,7003,6084,374-192 29,178     3,9946,085-523
 September419,4803,9456,165-555 21,441     4,23511,972-1,934
 October519,1625,2815,599-64 21,719     5,9725,694+56
 November419,6875,0164,491+131 20,993     5,7066,432-182
 December521,6065,3083,389+384 23,035     5,3393,297+408
 
2016January422,6706,8815,817+266 22,832     7,2787,481-51
 February422,7115,1115,070+10 22,839     5,6535,646+2
March521,8645,0285,875-169 23,6696,2915,461+166
            
JA Applications           
2015March4175,2247,92310,776-713 90,4985,2856,308-256
 April 4172,6627,68010,242-641 89,6495,3996,248-212
 May5173,86710,4739,268+241 91,8527,3195,116+441
 June4176,9019,3746,340+759 97,4119,4413,882+1,390
 July5175,95110,92211,872-190 99,2309,1677,348+364
 August4174,8758,0949,170-269 98,8325,7146,112-100
 September4166,5969,33817,617-2,070 92,1706,69613,358-1,666
 October5159,19810,86718,265-1,480 87,9057,44111,706-853
 November4157,2259,11311,086-493 86,1605,8147,559-436
 December5158,2918,2407,174+213 85,9144,6674,913-49
 
2016January4157,8778,9329,346-104 86,0006,0785,992+22
 February4156,4818,3469,742-349 85,5585,6166,058-111
March5153,4598,37111,393-604 84,5795,7936,772-196
            
Other Registrants           
2015March412,112393493-25 22,269660860-50
 April 412,079410443-8 22,2421,0331,060-7
 May512,072472479-1 22,308862796+13
 June412,015407464-14 22,399971880+23
 July511,869569715-29 22,8431,6341,190+89
 August411,824368413-11 22,667719895-44
 September411,471396749-88 21,6438071,831-256
 October511,307579743-33 21,5031,1051,245-28
 November411,242456521-16 21,2799351,159-56
 December511,322498418+16 21,448840671+34
 
2016January411,209499612-28 21,2149241,158-59
 February411,056368521-38 21,078795931-34
March511,007475524-10 21,022918974-11
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 March 2016 Table 3 (XLS 38KB)
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Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1March 2015February 2016March 2016Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western65,64259,16758,044-1,123-7,5987,42350,621
      Border29,89526,81926,361-458-3,5343,44022,921
      Midland16,90715,34315,030-313-1,8772,07112,959
      West18,84017,00516,653-352-2,1871,91214,741
        
      Southern and Eastern146,393131,081128,286-2,795-18,10715,326112,960
      Dublin52,60046,99646,294-702-6,3065,55440,740
      Mid-East20,11117,56317,336-227-2,7752,19315,143
      Mid-West17,28615,82215,427-395-1,8591,94313,484
      South-East28,40725,59025,065-525-3,3423,15121,914
      South-West27,98925,11024,164-946-3,8252,48521,679
      Total212,035190,248186,330-3,918-25,70522,749163,581
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western44,24841,60941,801+192-2,4475,29736,504
      Border19,85918,75118,876+125-9832,48716,389
      Midland11,45610,85110,926+75-5301,5639,363
      West12,93312,00711,999-8-9341,24710,752
        
      Southern and Eastern92,39387,86687,469-397-4,92410,34577,124
      Dublin30,97129,55529,376-179-1,5953,45825,918
      Mid-East13,97913,24513,349+104-6301,56811,781
      Mid-West11,29710,79110,728-63-5691,3649,364
      South-East17,93817,21017,262+52-6762,23615,026
      South-West18,20817,06516,754-311-1,4541,71915,035
      Total136,641129,475129,270-205-7,37115,642113,628
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western109,890100,77699,845-931-10,04512,72087,125
      Border49,75445,57045,237-333-4,5175,92739,310
      Midland28,36326,19425,956-238-2,4073,63422,322
      West31,77329,01228,652-360-3,1213,15925,493
        
      Southern and Eastern238,786218,947215,755-3,192-23,03125,671190,084
      Dublin83,57176,55175,670-881-7,9019,01266,658
      Mid-East34,09030,80830,685-123-3,4053,76126,924
      Mid-West28,58326,61326,155-458-2,4283,30722,848
      South-East46,34542,80042,327-473-4,0185,38736,940
      South-West46,19742,17540,918-1,257-5,2794,20436,714
      Total348,676319,723315,600-4,123-33,07638,391277,209
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 4 (XLS 35KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 March 2015February 2016March 2016Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators8,8658,2458,003-242-8622227,781
Professional8,6638,0387,917-121-7464627,455
Associate professional and technical 5,4155,1785,037-141-3784814,556
Clerical and secretarial8,9208,2948,479+185-4417817,698
Craft and related 62,84954,63353,509-1,124-9,3403,58249,927
Personal and protective service15,26313,94513,451-494-1,8121,39812,053
Sales14,70912,93012,676-254-2,0332,9369,740
Plant and machine operatives43,17238,71437,826-888-5,3464,23833,588
Other occupation32,17628,90228,216-686-3,9604,38423,832
No occupation112,00311,36911,216-153-7874,2656,951
Total 212,035190,248186,330-3,918-25,70522,749163,581
        
Females       
Managers and administrators6,4916,1485,991-157-5001155,876
Professional10,1439,4179,661+244-4824189,243
Associate professional and technical 4,1994,0043,923-81-2762573,666
Clerical and secretarial23,60922,40223,463+1,061-14698022,483
Craft and related 6,9106,9076,775-132-1357606,015
Personal and protective service29,54928,09127,686-405-1,8633,27324,413
Sales23,72722,05021,645-405-2,0823,52818,117
Plant and machine operatives14,44113,38413,266-118-1,1751,68311,583
Other occupation9,8419,5089,353-155-4882,0147,339
No occupation17,7317,5647,507-57-2242,6144,893
Total136,641129,475129,270-205-7,37115,642113,628
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators15,35614,39313,994-399-1,36233713,657
Professional18,80617,45517,578+123-1,22888016,698
Associate professional and technical 9,6149,1828,960-222-6547388,222
Clerical and secretarial32,52930,69631,942+1,246-5871,76130,181
Craft and related 69,75961,54060,284-1,256-9,4754,34255,942
Personal and protective service44,81242,03641,137-899-3,6754,67136,466
Sales38,43634,98034,321-659-4,1156,46427,857
Plant and machine operatives57,61352,09851,092-1,006-6,5215,92145,171
Other occupation42,01738,41037,569-841-4,4486,39831,171
No occupation119,73418,93318,723-210-1,0116,87911,844
Total 348,676319,723315,600-4,123-33,07638,391277,209
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 5 (XLS 36KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 March 2015February 2016March 2016Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males
   Less than one year107,14998,99196,854-2,137-10,29515,44981,405
   One year or more104,88691,25789,476-1,781-15,4107,30082,176
   Total212,035190,248186,330-3,918-25,70522,749163,581
       
Females       
   Less than one year81,12477,25477,746+492-3,37811,27366,473
   One year or more55,51752,22151,524-697-3,9934,36947,155
   Total136,641129,475129,270-205-7,37115,642113,628
       
All Persons       
   Less than one year188,273176,245174,600-1,645-13,67326,722147,878
   One year or more160,403143,478141,000-2,478-19,40311,669129,331
   Total348,676319,723315,600-4,123-33,07638,391277,209
        
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 6 (XLS 31KB)
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Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
   MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
          
2014March 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
March 38,119-324 33,285-427 71,404-751
 April 37,401-718 32,780-505 70,181-1,223
 May 36,899-502 32,360-420 69,259-922
 June 36,854-45 32,611+251 69,465+206
 July 36,457-397 32,342-269 68,799-666
 August 35,795-662 31,693-649 67,488-1,311
 September 34,813-982 30,862-831 65,675-1,813
 October 34,418-395 30,766-96 65,184-491
 November 34,729+311 30,949+183 65,678+494
 December 34,737 + 8 30,941- 8 65,6780
2016January 34,470-267 30,800-141 65,270-408
 February 34,828+358 31,152+352 65,980+710
 March 34,417-411 31,060-92 65,477-503
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 7 (XLS 34KB)
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Table 8 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping 
  Nationality grouping 
  Non-Irish nationals     
   EU15 excl. IRL & UKEU15 to EU28 States     
United Kingdom  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
  Other  
         
2014March14,9183,65038,58711,267 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
March13,3143,38934,4468,710 59,859288,817348,676
 April 13,0543,30633,6708,671 58,701284,850343,551
 May13,0413,30033,1388,920 58,399287,234345,633
 June13,3513,38133,1959,419 59,346297,174356,520
 July15,1733,71236,39911,656 66,940337,575404,515
 August13,2643,39532,2169,431 58,306300,770359,076
 September12,4123,21830,6708,844 55,144277,657332,801
 October11,9913,15029,9668,280 53,387267,407320,794
 November11,8753,29430,2118,158 53,538263,048316,586
 December12,0683,36630,8878,127 54,448267,168321,616
2016January12,0873,43031,3988,010 54,925266,877321,802
 February12,0283,39031,5908,138 55,146264,577319,723
 March11,8763,26231,0147,984 54,136261,464315,600
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 Table 8 (XLS 35KB)
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Table 9 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 March 2013March 2014March 2015March 2016
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males268,99663.3243,18962.2212,03560.8186,33059.0
Females156,09236.7148,04337.8136,64139.2129,27041.0
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years66,55215.758,88015.047,05813.538,39112.2
25 years and over358,53684.3332,35285.0301,61886.5277,20987.8
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims84,43319.956,99314.648,57313.945,53314.4
JA Applications306,36172.1298,63176.3265,72276.2238,03875.4
Other Registrants34,2948.135,6089.134,3819.932,03910.2
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year237,19255.8211,89754.2188,27354.0174,60055.3
One year or more187,89644.2179,33545.8160,40346.0141,00044.7
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals349,24282.2322,81082.5288,81782.8261,46482.8
Non-Irish Nationals75,84617.868,42217.559,85917.254,13617.2
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western132,21331.1122,14431.2109,89031.599,84531.6
Southern and Eastern292,87568.9269,08868.8238,78668.5215,75568.4
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators17,4384.116,5484.215,3564.413,9944.4
Professional23,9805.621,2705.418,8065.417,5785.6
Associate professional and technical12,1472.911,0582.89,6142.88,9602.8
Clerical and secretarial40,9179.636,2419.332,5299.331,94210.1
Craft and related 95,73322.582,26821.069,75920.060,28419.1
Personal and protective service51,54912.149,22312.644,81212.941,13713.0
Sales45,74710.843,62911.238,43611.034,32110.9
Plant and machine operatives69,67016.465,24016.757,61316.551,09216.2
Other occupation48,11111.345,20011.642,01712.137,56911.9
No occupation219,7964.720,5555.319,7345.718,7235.9
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work335,29078.9311,42179.6277,27279.5250,12379.3
Casual and part-time work89,79821.179,81120.471,40420.565,47720.7
Total425,088100.0391,232100.0348,676100.0315,600100.0
         
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 March 2016 Table 9 (XLS 16KB)
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Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes   
 February 2015January 2016February 2016
Back to Work Schemes   
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand1200
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand11,26011,79511,747
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 447382380
Total Back to Work payments 11,70912,17712,127
   
Other Activation Programmes   
DSP Part-time Job Incentive397405412
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 7,8777,8807,922
JobBridge (2011)6,1404,3234,185
Gateway (2013)31,8562,3112,252
Total Other Activation Programmes16,27014,91914,771
      
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 23,03422,70622,730
  
FAS (Solas) Full Time Training for Unemployed People4 7,7396,6576,587
       
Back to Education Courses  
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)5N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)623,87318,26317,794
Total Back to Education Courses 28,87323,26322,794
      
Total Activation Programmes87,62579,72279,009
    
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 Gateway Scheme included from December 2013.   
4 Specific Skills Training/Local Training initiative/Traineeship/Return to Work. 
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.
 
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2016 - 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: 

March 2016 – 28th February to 2nd April 2016
March 2015 – 28th February to 28th March 2015

From May 2015 (reference period) the reference period refers to the week of the last Thursday in the month, previously the reference period referred to the week of the last Friday in the month.

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Allowance and or Jobseekers Benefit.  Monthly unemployment is measured by the Monthly Unemployment release and quarterly unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey (formerly the Annual Labour Force Survey).

 

Standardised unemployment rates

The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) series, previously in Table 3, has been discontinued from May 2015. It has been replaced by the Monthly Unemployment series, which is published two days before the Live Register.

 

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.

 

Seasonal Adjustment

Since January 2011 the seasonal adjustment of the Live Register is completed by applying the X-12-ARIMA model, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Seasonal adjustment is conducted using the indirect approach, where each individual series is independently adjusted (male under 25 years, female under 25 years, male 25 years and over and female 25 years and over). To preserve consistency between the individual and aggregate series, the series for gender, age group and total Live Register are then created from these four component series.

 The X-12 ARIMA method has the X-11 moving averages process at its core, but builds on this by providing options for pre-treating the series using a regARIMA approach for prior adjustment and series extension. In essence this methodology will estimate seasonal factors while taking account of temporary changes, outliers, level shifts and calendar effects (e.g timing of Easter).

All Live Register series are updated monthly with the latest three years of seasonally adjusted data as part of the concurrent approach. The comprehensive annual review contains revisions to the entire series. Revisions to the series are typically very minor in scale.

For additional information on the use of X-12-ARIMA see detailed note in the January 2011 Live Register release.

 

Jobseeker’s Benefit Duration

Prior to 19 January 2004 Jobseeker’s Benefit was payable for 15 months (390 days).

From 19 January 2004, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 15 months (390 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

From 15 October 2008, Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 12 months (312 days) to people who had at least 260 paid PRSI contributions.  Jobseeker’s Benefit could be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who had less than 260 paid contributions.

As of 3 April 2013, Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 9 months (234 days) to people who have 260 paid PRSI contributions. Jobseeker’s Benefit can be paid for a maximum of 6 months (156 days) to people who have less than 260 paid contributions (Refers to new claims).

Claimants getting Jobseeker’s Benefit for 6 months or more on 3 April 2013 (or 3 months for people with fewer than 260 contributions) will not be affected.

 

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)

The One-Parent Family Payment is a social welfare payment for men and women who are younger than 66 and bring up children without the support of a partner and meet certain other criteria. Claimants on this scheme are not counted as part of the Live Register.

From July 2013 new rules came into operation reducing the age limits for the One-Parent Family Payment. This means that some people no longer qualify for the payment and may avail of other schemes or supports.

As a consequence, approximately 2,800 people in July 2013, 1,300 people in July 2014 and 2,786 people in July 2015, previously receiving the One-Parent Family Payment, made a claim for Jobseekers Allowance (JA) and will therefore appear on the Live Register.

For information on the age-related changes to the OFP scheme from July 2013, please see the following link to the 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, 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/liveregistermarch2016/

Contact:

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Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
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