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International comparison:
Eurostat
See also:
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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Sabrina Bowen (+353) 21 453 5151 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 2017

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
March 2016315,364316,600
February 2017275,093275,600
March 2017267,202271,700
   
Change in month-- 3,900
Change in year- 48,162-

Seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreases by 3,900 in March

Live Register seasonally adjusted
go to full release

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 3,900 (-1.4%) in March 2017, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 271,700. The number of persons on the Live Register in March 2017 is also the lowest number recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since October 2008. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 267,202 persons signing on the Live Register in March 2017. This represents an annual decrease of 48,162 (-15.3%). See table 1(a).

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 2,300 (-1.5%) males in March 2017, while females decreased by 1,600 (-1.4%) over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 30,505 (-16.4%) to 155,716 in the year to March 2017, while female claimants decreased by 17,657 (-13.7%) to 111,486.  This compares with a decrease of 25,671 (-12.1%) to 186,221 for males, while female claimants decreased by 7,362 (-5.4%) to 129,143 in the year to March 2016. 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 The Standardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) has been discontinued and has been replaced by the Monthly Unemployment release which is available here.

Beginning with January 2017, the Live Register monthly release will be produced using claimant microdata from the Department of Social Protection's (DSP) Integrated Short Term Scheme (ISTS) database, whereas prior to January 2017, the Live Register was produced from tabulated claimant counts provided directly to the CSO by the DSP. This new approach will continue to support the production of current Live Register data while it will also facilitate additional future analyses being undertaken by CSO.

As claimant count microdata is retrospectively available to January 2012, previously published Live Register data for this period have been revised with data now also produced from this claimant count microdata. These revisions are generally minor in nature and are included in this release as well as all relevant Statbank tables.

 

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
March 2015188070160327
April 2015184861158397
May 2015183537161794
June 2015189797166399
July 2015197977165336
August 2015194612164187
Sepember 2015175741156729
October 2015171005149526
November 2015169616146715
December 2015174882145764
January 2016176143145370
February 2016176063143386
March 2016174427140937
April 2016167357138183
May 2016166397140425
June 2016171883143771
July 2016177093141902
August 2016175760140258
September 2016155532130571
October 2016151993124816
November 2016151452121708
December 2016156651119851
January 2017157629119263
February 2017158045117048
March 2017153245113957

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in March 2017 was 113,957. The number of male long term claimants decreased by 19,485 (-21.8%) in the year to March 2017, while females decreased by 7,495 (-14.6%), giving an overall annual decrease of 26,980 (-19.1%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 6 and figure 2.

In March 2017, 57.4% (153,245) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for March 2016 was 55.3% (174,427). The annual fall of 21,182 (-12.1%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 11,020 (-11.4%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 10,162 (-13.1%) in female short term claimants. See table 6.

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 59,260 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in March 2017, which represents 22.2% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 20.7% one year earlier when there were 65,427 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to March 2017 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 6,167 (-9.4%), with the number of males decreasing by 3,761 (-10.9%) and the number of females decreasing by 2,406 (-7.8%). See table 7.

Under 25 years25 years and over
March 201547015301382
March 201638376276988
March 201730849236353

Live Register age groups

In the year to March 2017 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 40,635 (-14.7%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 7,527 (-19.6%).  Annual decreases in persons aged under 25 have occurred in all months since July 2010. The percentage of persons aged under 25 on the Live Register now stands at 11.5% for March 2017, down from 12.2% in March 2016 and 13.5% in March 2015. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and figure 3.

Live Register new registrants

There were 18,277 new registrants on the Live Register in March 2017, consisting of 10,956 Jobseekers Allowance (JA) claims, 6,794 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims and 527 “Other Registrants”. Males accounted for 58.6% (10,713) and females 41.4% (7,564) of all new registrants. JA claims represented 59.9% of all new registrations, while JB claims and “Other Registrants” represented 37.2% and 2.9% respectively.  See table 3.

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (18.5%) 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 10,956 (-18.2%) to 49,299.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Plant and Machine operatives group, which decreased by 16.4%.

The two smallest occupational groups in March were the Associate professional and technical and the Managers and administrators groups which accounted for 3.1% and 4.7% 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 2015March 2016March 2017
1153421397312482
2187831756014998
3959489498317
4324833190726944
5697186025549299
6447774109835197
7383913428628931
8575845106142680
9419943755331974
10197311872216380
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 38,540 (-16.2%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 199,380 in March 2017, while JB claimants decreased to 38,534 (-15.2%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 74.6% of all persons on the Live Register in March 2017 compared with 75.4% 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-East region (-18.2%) followed by the South-West region (-16.8%). See table 4.
  • In March, Irish nationals accounted for 82.4% (220,224) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 46,978 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (26,487), followed by the UK (10,229). See table 8.

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of  February 2017 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 67,949 people availing of these programmes in February 2017, which is a decrease of 11,633 persons (-14.6%) from the previous year, when there were 79,612 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 2016February 2017March 2017Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims21,82519,85018,646-1,204-3,179
    JA Applications153,407129,924127,256-2,668-26,151
    Other Registrants10,9899,9749,814-160-1,175
    Total186,221159,748155,716-4,032-30,505
 
Females
    JB Claims23,62621,81319,888-1,925-3,738
    JA Applications84,51373,75372,124-1,629-12,389
    Other Registrants21,00419,77919,474-305-1,530
    Total129,143115,345111,486-3,859-17,657
 
All Persons
    JB Claims45,45141,66338,534-3,129-6,917
    JA Applications237,920203,677199,380-4,297-38,540
    Other Registrants31,99329,75329,288-465-2,705
    Total315,364275,093267,202-7,891-48,162
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2016February 2017March 2017Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,3541,1721,136-36-218
    JA Applications21,30117,11816,878-240-4,423
    Other Registrants9110896-12+5
    Total22,74618,39818,110-288-4,636
 
Females
    JB Claims1,2751,1441,027-117-248
    JA Applications14,23911,84211,628-214-2,611
    Other Registrants1169284-8-32
    Total15,63013,07812,739-339-2,891
 
All Persons
    JB Claims2,6292,3162,163-153-466
    JA Applications35,54028,96028,506-454-7,034
    Other Registrants207200180-20-27
    Total38,37631,47630,849-627-7,527
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2016February 2017March 2017Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims20,47118,67817,510-1,168-2,961
    JA Applications132,106112,806110,378-2,428-21,728
    Other Registrants10,8989,8669,718-148-1,180
    Total163,475141,350137,606-3,744-25,869
 
Females
    JB Claims22,35120,66918,861-1,808-3,490
    JA Applications70,27461,91160,496-1,415-9,778
    Other Registrants20,88819,68719,390-297-1,498
    Total113,513102,26798,747-3,520-14,766
 
All Persons
    JB Claims42,82239,34736,371-2,976-6,451
    JA Applications202,380174,717170,874-3,843-31,506
    Other Registrants31,78629,55329,108-445-2,678
    Total276,988243,617236,353-7,264-40,635
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2015March211,892136,505348,397211,600139,200350,800
 April208,160135,098343,258209,800139,700349,500
 May208,518136,813345,331207,500139,400346,900
 June211,276144,920356,196205,900138,800344,700
 July210,156153,157363,313203,700139,100342,800
 August208,276150,523358,799202,000138,100340,200
 September197,385135,085332,470200,200137,100337,300
 October189,549130,982320,531196,500136,200332,600
 November188,042128,289316,331195,100134,800329,900
 December191,110130,263321,373193,600133,800327,400
 
2016January191,631129,882321,513190,600132,700323,300
 February190,120129,329319,449188,500131,500320,000
 March186,221129,143315,364185,600131,000316,600
 April181,386124,154305,540182,900129,300312,200
 May181,232125,590306,822180,400128,100308,500
 June181,980133,674315,654177,500127,700305,200
 July180,414138,581318,995175,100125,000300,100
 August178,515137,503316,018173,200125,400298,600
 September166,522119,581286,103169,100121,900291,000
 October161,307115,502276,809167,400120,600288,000
 November158,996114,164273,160165,000120,500285,600
 December160,588115,914276,502162,900119,400282,300
 
2017January161,365115,527276,892160,400118,300278,700
 February159,748115,345275,093158,200117,400275,600
 March155,716111,486267,202 155,900115,800271,700
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
2015March28,00019,01547,015 28,50019,90048,400
 April27,31018,50245,812 28,10019,70047,800
 May27,72819,29947,027 27,60019,50047,100
 June28,79920,63649,435 27,20019,00046,200
 July28,80021,45850,258 26,80018,80045,600
 August28,52921,27449,803 26,30018,50044,800
 September26,29818,80245,100 26,20018,30044,500
 October24,05516,97741,032 25,20017,70042,900
 November23,22816,08839,316 24,80017,50042,300
 December23,14215,54638,688 24,60017,20041,800
 
2016January23,72716,02439,751 24,10016,80040,900
 February23,66416,08439,748 23,80016,60040,500
 March22,74615,63038,376 23,10016,30039,400
 April21,99214,91436,906 22,60015,90038,500
 May22,17215,49037,662 22,00015,60037,600
 June22,75416,76539,519 21,50015,40036,900
 July22,60617,23739,843 21,00015,10036,100
 August22,34717,13439,481 20,60014,90035,500
 September19,99814,51734,515 19,90014,10034,100
 October18,80613,40232,208 19,70014,10033,800
 November18,06012,75230,812 19,30013,90033,300
 December17,89012,39530,285 19,00013,70032,700
 
2017January18,46012,93631,396 18,70013,60032,400
 February18,39813,07831,476 18,50013,50032,000
 March18,11012,73930,849 18,40013,40031,700
¹ Table contains revised figures
Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2015March183,892119,427306,384 183,100119,200302,400
 April180,850116,596297,446 181,700120,100301,700
 May180,790117,514298,304 179,900119,900299,900
 June182,477124,284306,761 178,700119,800298,500
 July181,356131,699313,055 177,000120,300297,200
 August179,747129,249308,996 175,700119,600295,300
 September171,087116,283287,370 174,000118,800292,800
 October165,494114,005279,499 171,300118,400289,700
 November164,814112,201277,015 170,300117,300287,600
 December167,968114,717282,685 169,000116,600285,600
 
2016January167,904113,858281,762 166,500115,800282,400
 February166,456113,245279,701 164,600114,900279,600
 March163,475113,513276,988 162,500114,700277,200
 April159,394109,240268,634 160,300113,400273,800
 May159,060110,100269,160 158,300112,500270,800
 June159,226116,909276,135 156,000112,300268,300
 July157,808121,344279,152 154,100109,900264,000
 August156,168120,369276,537 152,600110,500263,100
 September146,524105,064251,588 149,100107,700256,900
 October142,501102,100244,601 147,600106,600254,200
 November140,936101,412242,348 145,700106,600252,300
 December142,698103,519246,217 143,900105,700249,600
 
2017January142,905102,591245,496 141,700104,600246,300
 February141,350102,267243,617 139,700103,900243,600
 March137,60698,747236,353 137,500102,400239,900
¹ Table contains revised figures
Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register¹
  Males Females All Claimants
  Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register
JB Claims
2016March21,8254,18817,6374,311 23,6265,05018,5763,558 45,4519,23836,2137,869
 April20,3483,48416,8644,399 20,6892,98817,7015,334 41,0376,47234,5659,733
 May19,6443,15916,4853,339 20,6913,34917,3422,801 40,3356,50833,8276,140
 June19,6024,30615,2963,725 25,1538,21416,9393,008 44,75512,52032,2356,733
 July19,6543,50316,1512,829 28,8707,08221,7882,715 48,52410,58537,9395,544
 August19,3512,99216,3592,699 28,2153,24524,9703,238 47,5666,23741,3295,937
 September17,4233,57113,8524,925 19,5923,66815,92411,622 37,0157,23929,77616,547
 October17,1423,27313,8692,982 18,9233,20015,7233,286 36,0656,47329,5926,268
 November17,4703,47413,9962,611 19,4843,58915,8952,491 36,9547,06329,8915,102
 December18,8734,22514,6482,261 21,5484,76016,7882,166 40,4218,98531,4364,427
 
2017January19,8314,36915,4623,009 21,4334,18017,2533,908 41,2648,54932,7156,917
 February19,8503,73816,1123,207 21,8134,31217,5013,386 41,6638,05033,6136,593
 March18,6463,64415,0024,173 19,8883,15016,7384,426 38,5346,79431,7408,599
 
JA Applications
2016March153,4077,231146,17610,843 84,5134,54779,9666,027 237,92011,778226,14216,870
 April150,1986,384143,81410,079 82,7553,84078,9156,012 232,95310,224222,72916,091
 May150,8299,775141,0549,619 84,2136,21877,9955,154 235,04215,993219,04914,773
 June151,71911,952139,76711,616 87,5488,98978,5596,144 239,26720,941218,32617,760
 July150,1907,043143,1479,117 88,4145,63282,7825,234 238,60412,675225,92914,351
 August148,6666,473142,1938,512 87,9814,29483,6875,171 236,64710,767225,88013,683
 September138,8668,365130,50118,668 79,7985,48174,31714,148 218,66413,846204,81832,816
 October133,9847,214126,77012,584 76,5054,46172,0448,118 210,48911,675198,81420,702
 November131,3956,681124,7149,726 74,7263,95670,7706,093 206,12110,637195,48415,819
 December131,6197,047124,5727,311 74,3544,01470,3404,757 205,97311,061194,91212,068
 
2017January131,5216,781124,7407,282 74,2614,28569,9764,681 205,78211,066194,71611,963
 February129,9246,894123,0308,934 73,7534,40969,3445,324 203,67711,303192,37414,258
 March127,2566,871120,38510,106 72,1244,08568,0396,195 199,38010,956188,42416,301
 
Other Registrants
2016March10,98925410,735416 21,00457920,425779 31,99383331,1601,195
 April10,84021310,627438 20,71050120,209972 31,55071430,8361,410
 May10,75920110,558334 20,68637220,314545 31,44557330,872879
 June10,65934210,317513 20,97388820,085853 31,6321,23030,4021,366
 July10,57026610,304434 21,29793020,367786 31,8671,19630,6711,220
 August10,49822110,277372 21,30740620,901616 31,80562731,178988
 September10,2332659,968604 20,19148519,7061,783 30,42475029,6742,387
 October10,1812489,933384 20,07440819,666744 30,25565629,5991,128
 November10,1312379,894374 19,95437819,576669 30,08561529,4701,043
 December10,0962609,836371 20,01251419,498612 30,10877429,334983
 
2017January10,0132059,808287 19,83337119,462634 29,84657629,270921
 February9,9742369,738346 19,77967919,100870 29,75391528,8381,216
 March9,8141989,616464 19,47432919,145804 29,28852728,7611,268
 
All Schemes
2016March186,22111,673174,54815,570 129,14310,176118,96710,364 315,36421,849293,51525,934
 April181,38610,081171,30514,916 124,1547,329116,82512,318 305,54017,410288,13027,234
 May181,23213,135168,09713,292 125,5909,939115,6518,500 306,82223,074283,74821,792
 June181,98016,600165,38015,854 133,67418,091115,58310,005 315,65434,691280,96325,859
 July180,41410,812169,60212,380 138,58113,644124,9378,735 318,99524,456294,53921,115
 August178,5159,686168,82911,583 137,5037,945129,5589,025 316,01817,631298,38720,608
 September166,52212,201154,32124,197 119,5819,634109,94727,553 286,10321,835264,26851,750
 October161,30710,735150,57215,950 115,5028,069107,43312,148 276,80918,804258,00528,098
 November158,99610,392148,60412,711 114,1647,923106,2419,253 273,16018,315254,84521,964
 December160,58811,532149,0569,943 115,9149,288106,6267,535 276,50220,820255,68217,478
 
2017January161,36511,355150,01010,578 115,5278,836106,6919,223 276,89220,191256,70119,801
 February159,74810,868148,88012,487 115,3459,400105,9459,580 275,09320,268254,82522,067
 March155,71610,713145,00314,743 111,4867,564103,92211,425 267,20218,277248,92526,168
1 The Live Register flows methodology has been revised. See Background Notes for further information.
Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions¹March 2016February 2017March 2017Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males     
      Border, Midland and Western58,02049,97548,726-1,249-9,2946,00542,721
      Border26,34522,51521,917-598-4,4282,74119,176
      Midland15,02812,77612,433-343-2,5951,66010,773
      West16,64714,68414,376-308-2,2711,60412,772
 
      Southern and Eastern128,201109,773106,990-2,783-21,21112,10594,885
      Dublin46,26340,06139,603-458-6,6604,38235,221
      Mid-East17,32614,30713,948-359-3,3781,64812,300
      Mid-West15,41613,48413,066-418-2,3501,64411,422
      South-East25,05321,18520,549-636-4,5042,44718,102
      South-West24,14320,73619,824-912-4,3191,98417,840
      Total186,221159,748155,716-4,032-30,50518,110137,606
 
Females
      Border, Midland and Western41,73737,63836,413-1,225-5,3244,36732,046
      Border18,85016,72816,127-601-2,7231,98514,142
      Midland10,9199,8229,535-287-1,3841,3318,204
      West11,96811,08810,751-337-1,2171,0519,700
 
      Southern and Eastern87,40677,70775,073-2,634-12,3338,37266,701
      Dublin29,35926,29325,764-529-3,5952,73223,032
      Mid-East13,33811,36511,120-245-2,2181,1649,956
      Mid-West10,7189,5549,139-415-1,5791,1827,957
      South-East17,25815,47514,857-618-2,4011,90612,951
      South-West16,73315,02014,193-827-2,5401,38812,805
      Total129,143115,345111,486-3,859-17,65712,73998,747
 
All Persons
      Border, Midland and Western99,75787,61385,139-2,474-14,61810,37274,767
      Border45,19539,24338,044-1,199-7,1514,72633,318
      Midland25,94722,59821,968-630-3,9792,99118,977
      West28,61525,77225,127-645-3,4882,65522,472
 
      Southern and Eastern215,607187,480182,063-5,417-33,54420,477161,586
      Dublin75,62266,35465,367-987-10,2557,11458,253
      Mid-East30,66425,67225,068-604-5,5962,81222,256
      Mid-West26,13423,03822,205-833-3,9292,82619,379
      South-East42,31136,66035,406-1,254-6,9054,35331,053
      South-West40,87635,75634,017-1,739-6,8593,37230,645
      Total315,364275,093267,202-7,891-48,16230,849236,353
¹ The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes
Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 March 2016February 2017March 2017Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
Males
Managers and administrators7,9927,2887,080-208-9121796,901
Professional7,9097,1266,902-224-1,0073256,577
Associate professional and technical 5,0324,6844,589-95-4434284,161
Clerical and secretarial8,4727,5157,274-241-1,1987096,565
Craft and related 53,48743,69042,832-858-10,6552,86539,967
Personal and protective service13,43811,93911,551-388-1,8871,11610,435
Sales12,66810,86810,714-154-1,9542,4248,290
Plant and machine operatives37,80332,12331,135-988-6,6683,40627,729
Other occupation28,20724,54423,840-704-4,3673,31020,530
No occupation¹11,2139,9719,799-172-1,4143,3486,451
Total 186,221159,748155,716-4,032-30,50518,110137,606
 
Females
Managers and administrators5,9815,5175,402-115-5791135,289
Professional9,6518,6218,096-525-1,5553027,794
Associate professional and technical 3,9173,8103,728-82-1892163,512
Clerical and secretarial23,43520,84819,670-1,178-3,76585718,813
Craft and related 6,7686,5236,467-56-3017865,681
Personal and protective service27,66024,62223,646-976-4,0142,62621,020
Sales21,61818,58718,217-370-3,4012,75215,465
Plant and machine operatives13,25811,79911,545-254-1,7131,41210,133
Other occupation9,3468,3088,134-174-1,2121,5616,573
No occupation¹7,5096,7106,581-129-9282,1144,467
Total129,143115,345111,486-3,859-17,65712,73998,747
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators13,97312,80512,482-323-1,49129212,190
Professional17,56015,74714,998-749-2,56262714,371
Associate professional and technical 8,9498,4948,317-177-6326447,673
Clerical and secretarial31,90728,36326,944-1,419-4,9631,56625,378
Craft and related 60,25550,21349,299-914-10,9563,65145,648
Personal and protective service41,09836,56135,197-1,364-5,9013,74231,455
Sales34,28629,45528,931-524-5,3555,17623,755
Plant and machine operatives51,06143,92242,680-1,242-8,3814,81837,862
Other occupation37,55332,85231,974-878-5,5794,87127,103
No occupation¹18,72216,68116,380-301-2,3425,46210,918
Total 315,364275,093267,202-7,891-48,16230,849236,353
¹ Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 March 2016February 2017March 2017Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
Males
   Less than one year96,77587,76085,755-2,005-11,02012,90072,855
   One year or more89,44671,98869,961-2,027-19,4855,21064,751
   Total186,221159,748155,716-4,032-30,50518,110137,606
 
Females
   Less than one year77,65270,28567,490-2,795-10,1629,53457,956
   One year or more51,49145,06043,996-1,064-7,4953,20540,791
   Total129,143115,345111,486-3,859-17,65712,73998,747
 
All Persons
   Less than one year174,427158,045153,245-4,800-21,18222,434130,811
   One year or more140,937117,048113,957-3,091-26,9808,415105,542
   Total315,364275,093267,202-7,891-48,16230,849236,353
Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
  MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
2015March38,098-332 33,263-422 71,361-754
 April37,376-722 32,757-506 70,133-1,228
 May36,869-507 32,328-429 69,197-936
 June36,831-38 32,579+251 69,410+213
 July36,432-399 32,312-267 68,744-666
 August35,774-658 31,668-644 67,442-1,302
 September34,791-983 30,838-830 65,629-1,813
 October34,400-391 30,737-101 65,137-492
 November34,710+310 30,920+183 65,630+493
 December34,726+16 30,917-3 65,643+13
 
2016January34,447-279 30,767-150 65,214-429
 February34,810+363 31,119+352 65,929+715
 March34,402-408 31,025-94 65,427-502
 April33,809-593 30,527-498 64,336-1,091
 May33,549-260 30,269-258 63,818-518
 June33,490-59 30,222-47 63,712-106
 July32,949-541 29,763-459 62,712-1,000
 August32,159-790 29,187-576 61,346-1,366
 September31,263-896 28,322-865 59,585-1,761
 October31,100-163 28,288-34 59,388-197
 November31,108+08 28,535+247 59,643+255
 December31,156+48 28,752+217 59,908+265
 
2017January30,890-266 28,590-162 59,480-428
 February31,061+171 28,835+245 59,896+416
 March30,641-420 28,619-216 59,260-636
Table 8 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping
  Nationality grouping 
  Non-Irish nationals     
  United KingdomEU15 excl. IRL & UKEU15 to EU28 StatesOther  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
2015March13,3033,38134,4028,705 59,791288,606348,397
 April13,0423,29933,6248,663 58,628284,630343,258
 May13,0293,29033,0988,911 58,328287,003345,331
 June13,3383,37433,1559,414 59,281296,915356,196
 July13,4513,41532,6289,424 58,918304,395363,313
 August13,2533,39032,1799,427 58,249300,550358,799
 September12,3983,21230,6298,839 55,078277,392332,470
 October11,9843,14329,9198,275 53,321267,210320,531
 November11,8693,28530,1748,151 53,479262,852316,331
 December12,0603,36430,8478,119 54,390266,983321,373
 
2016January12,0793,42831,3478,005 54,859266,654321,513
 February12,0153,38531,5518,137 55,088264,361319,449
 March11,8673,25530,9807,983 54,085261,278315,363
 April11,5273,21730,0357,909 52,688252,852305,540
 May11,5563,21329,4708,259 52,498254,324306,822
 June11,8223,31929,3158,684 53,140262,514315,654
 July11,8553,31228,8378,706 52,710266,285318,995
 August11,7163,32928,2198,633 51,897264,121316,018
 September10,8163,07226,6477,769 48,304237,799286,103
 October10,5353,03726,1617,289 47,022229,787276,809
 November10,4873,14626,1637,150 46,946226,214273,160
 December10,6083,21326,8797,158 47,858228,644276,502
 
2017January10,6143,23427,5187,186 48,552228,340276,892
 February10,5243,21927,3697,218 48,330226,763275,093
 March10,2293,06526,4877,197 46,978220,224267,202
Table 9 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 March 2014 March 2015 March 2016 March 2017
 Number% of total Number% of total Number% of total Number% of total
Sex
Males243,02062.2 211,89260.8 186,22159.0 155,71658.3
Females147,89637.8 136,50539.2 129,14341.0 111,48641.7
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,364100.0 267,202100.0
           
Age
Under 25 years58,82115.0 47,01513.5 38,37612.2 30,84911.5
25 years and over332,09585.0 301,38286.5 276,98887.8 236,35388.5
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,364100.0 267,202100.0
           
Scheme
JB Claims56,85214.5 48,45213.9 45,45114.4 38,53414.4
JA Applications298,51176.4 265,59876.2 237,92075.4 199,38074.6
Other Registrants35,5539.1 34,3479.9 31,99310.1 29,28811.0
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,364100.0 267,202100.0
            
Duration of Continuous Registration
Less than one year211,64754.1 188,07054.0 174,42755.3 153,24557.4
One year or more179,26945.9 160,32746.0 140,93744.7 113,95742.6
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,364100.0 267,202100.0
            
Nationality Grouping
Irish Nationals322,58582.5 288,60682.8 261,27882.8 220,22482.4
Non-Irish Nationals68,33117.5 59,79117.2 54,08517.2 46,97817.6
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,363100.0 267,202100.0
            
NUTS2 Regions¹
Border, Midland and Western122,06031.2 109,80131.5 99,75731.6 85,13931.9
Southern and Eastern268,85668.8 238,59668.5 215,60768.4 182,06368.1
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,364100.0 267,202100.0
            
Last Held Occupation
Managers and administrators16,5424.2 15,3424.4 13,9734.4 12,4824.7
Professional21,2485.4 18,7835.4 17,5605.6 14,9985.6
Associate professional and technical11,0402.8 9,5942.8 8,9492.8 8,3173.1
Clerical and secretarial36,2029.3 32,4839.3 31,90710.1 26,94410.1
Craft and related 82,20921.0 69,71820.0 60,25519.1 49,29918.5
Personal and protective service49,16812.6 44,77712.9 41,09813.0 35,19713.2
Sales43,58511.1 38,39111.0 34,28610.9 28,93110.8
Plant and machine operatives65,19616.7 57,58416.5 51,06116.2 42,68016.0
Other occupation45,17311.6 41,99412.1 37,55311.9 31,97412.0
No Occupation²20,5535.3 19,7315.7 18,7225.9 16,3806.1
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,364100.0 267,202100.0
            
Casual Status
No casual and part-time work311,19279.6 277,03679.5 249,93779.3 207,94277.8
Casual and part-time work79,72420.4 71,36120.5 65,42720.7 59,26022.2
Total390,916100.0 348,397100.0 315,364100.0 267,202100.0
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
Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes
 February 2016January 2017February 2017
Back to Work Schemes  
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand1000
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand11,74710,84510,781
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 380378383
Total Back to Work payments 12,12711,22311,164
 
Other Activation Programmes
DSP Part-time Job Incentive412483470
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 7,9227,2307,138
JobBridge (2011)34,1851,6301,315
Gateway (2013)42,252560484
Total Other Activation Programmes14,7719,9039,407
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)522,73022,24222,174
 
FAS (Solas) Full Time Training for Unemployed People67,1906,4466,472
     
Back to Education Courses
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)7N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)817,79414,21413,732
Total Back to Education Courses 22,79419,21418,732
     
Total Activation Programmes79,61269,02867,949
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 This scheme was closed to new applications from 21 October 2016.   
4 Gateway Scheme included from December 2013.
5 Revised (January 2017)
6 Revised (January 2017)
7 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 per month.
8 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.

Prior to January 2017, the DSP provided tabulated claimant counts directly to the CSO to facilitate production of the Live Register. These claimant counts were grouped by age, gender, occupation, nationality, duration, region, county and local welfare office. Data provided in this fashion is available from 1967 to December 2016.

Beginning with January 2017, the Live Register will be produced using claimant microdata from the Department of Social Protection's (DSP) Integrated Short Term Scheme (ISTS) database. Claimants are determined to be on the Live Register if they fulfil the Live Register criteria and such persons will be summarised and cross-tabulated to produce the counts published in the Live Register release.

As claimant count microdata is retrospectively available to January 2012, previously published Live Register data for this period have been revised with data now also produced from this claimant microdata. These revisions are generally minor in nature and are included in this release as well as all relevant Statbank tables.

Reference Period

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

March 2017 – 26th  February to 1st April 2017
March 2016 – 28th February to 2nd April 2016

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 are calculated by analysing persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the reference month compared to those on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month. The flows are calculated as follows:

Joined Live Register: Persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were not present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Stayed on Live Register: Persons on the Live Register in the reference week of the current month who were also present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Left Live Register: Persons not on the Live Register in the referenced week of the current month who were present on the Live Register in the reference week of the previous month.

Inflows and outflows published in this release relate to persons moving on or off the Live Register. Inter-scheme movement is not counted as a Live Register flow. For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim, this is not counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA. The person has moved scheme but has not joined nor left the Live Register. Thus, those persons who move schemes from one month to the next are counted as “Stayed on the Live Register”.

 

Live Register Area Analysis

The basis of the area analysis in Live Register statistics is the 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 Offices 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: Click here

 

Casual and part-time workers

The number of claimants on the Live Register who work on a casual and /or part-time basis is supplied by the Department of Social Protection. People who work for part of a week may be eligible for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance and may also be included on the Live Register, if the Department of Social Protection is satisfied that they are not in full-time employment, are available for work and are looking for full-time employment.  

 

Nationality

Data in the nationality grouping table is sourced from information collected by the 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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