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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

May 2014

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedStandardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) %
May 2013421,737425,10013.6
April 2014388,559393,40011.8
May 2014388,764391,80011.8
   Percentage Points
Change in month--1,6000.0
Change in year-32,973--1.8

Seasonally adjusted Live Register stands at 391,800 in May

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1,600 in May 2014, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 391,800. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 388,764 people signing on the Live Register in May 2014.  This represents an annual decrease of 32,973 (-7.8%). See table 1(a).

The standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in May 2014 was 11.8%, unchanged from April 2014.  The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) was 12.0% in the first quarter of 2014. See table 3.

 

 

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 1,000 males in May 2014, while females decreased by 500 over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 26,507 (-9.9%) to 240,414 in the year to May 2014, while female claimants decreased by 6,466 (-4.2%) to 148,350. This compares with a decrease of 11,842 (-4.2%) to 266,921 for males in the year to May 2013, while female claimants showed an increase of 672 (+ 0.4%) to 154,816. 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
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
Apr 2014210334178225
May 2014205394183370

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in May 2014 was 183,370, this represents 47.2% of all claimants.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 9,652 (-7.2%) in the year to May 2014, while females increased by 1,025 (+1.8%), giving an overall annual decrease of 8,627 (-4.5%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 7 and graph above.

In May 2014, 52.8% (205,394) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for May 2013 was 54.5% (229,740).  The annual fall of 24,346 (-10.6%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 16,855 (-12.7%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 7,491 (-7.7%) in female short term claimants. See table 7.

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 76,762 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in May 2014, which represents 19.7% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 20.9% one year earlier when there were 87,943 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to May 2014 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 11,181 (-12.7%), with the number of males decreasing by 6,785 (-14.1%) and the number of females decreasing by 4,396 (-11.0%). See table 8.

Under 25 years25 years and over
May 201272623360284
May 201367286354451
May 201458516330248

Live Register age groups

In the year to May 2014 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 24,203 (-6.8%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 8,770 (-13.0%).  Annual decreases in persons aged under 25 have occurred in all months since July 2010, while the number of persons aged 25 and over have fallen annually in all months since July 2012. The percentage of persons aged under 25 on the Live Register now stands at 15.1% for May 2014, down from 16.0% in May 2013 and 16.8% in May 2012. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and graph above.

Live Register new registrants

There were 34,399 new registrants on the Live Register in May 2014, consisting of 13,014 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims, 19,790 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) claims and 1,595 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 52.4% (18,041) and females 47.6% (16,358) of all new registrants.  On average 3,608 male and 3,272 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 GroupMay 2012May 2013May 2014
1168071733316425
2234682386521893
3123161211211262
4410413981436607
51035399394080073
6505315000947799
7472984652943900
8702376964264293
9491284818445237
10185422030921275
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 10,518 (-3.4%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 300,266 in May 2014, while JB claimants decreased to 52,785 (-31.5%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 77.2% of all persons on the Live Register in May 2014 compared with 73.7% a year earlier. See table 1(a).
  • Annual decreases occurred in all of the eight NUTS 3 regions with the largest percentage decrease occurring in the Mid-West region (-9.7%) followed by the South-West region (-9.4%). See table 5.
  • Craft and related (20.6%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in May, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 13,867 (-14.8%) to 80,073.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Professional group (-8.3%). See table 6 and graph above.
  • In May Irish nationals accounted for 82.8% (321,954) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 66,810 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (37,092), followed by the UK (14,682). See table 9.

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 April 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 85,441 people availing of these programmes in April 2014, which is a decrease of 601 (-0.7%) from the previous year, when there were 86,042 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
CategoryMay 2013April 2014May 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims40,11627,75126,201-1,550-13,915
    JA Applications214,641198,974201,419+2,445-13,222
    Other Registrants12,16412,81612,794-22+630
    Total266,921239,541240,414+873-26,507
      
Females     
    JB Claims36,90029,12126,584-2,537-10,316
    JA Applications96,14396,78898,847+2,059+2,704
    Other Registrants21,77323,10922,919-190+1,146
    Total154,816149,018148,350-668-6,466
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims77,01656,87252,785-4,087-24,231
    JA Applications310,784295,762300,266+4,504-10,518
    Other Registrants33,93735,92535,713-212+1,776
    Total421,737388,559388,764+205-32,973
      
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 1(a) (XLS 26KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2013April 2014May 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims2,6591,6051,509-96-1,150
    JA Applications37,60432,44333,325+882-4,279
    Other Registrants100113110-3+10
    Total40,36334,16134,944+783-5,419
 .    
Females     
    JB Claims2,4961,7341,594-140-902
    JA Applications24,22521,17921,812+633-2,413
    Other Registrants202174166-8-36
    Total26,92323,08723,572+485-3,351
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims5,1553,3393,103-236-2,052
    JA Applications61,82953,62255,137+1,515-6,692
    Other Registrants302287276-11-26
    Total67,28657,24858,516+1,268-8,770
      
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 1(b) (XLS 26KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2013April 2014May 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims37,45726,14624,692-1,454-12,765
    JA Applications177,037166,531168,094+1,563-8,943
    Other Registrants12,06412,70312,684-19+620
    Total226,558205,380205,470+90-21,088
      
Females     
    JB Claims34,40427,38724,990-2,397-9,414
    JA Applications71,91875,60977,035+1,426+5,117
    Other Registrants21,57122,93522,753-182+1,182
    Total127,893125,931124,778-1,153-3,115
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims71,86153,53349,682-3,851-22,179
    JA Applications248,955242,140245,129+2,989-3,826
    Other Registrants33,63535,63835,437-201+1,802
    Total354,451331,311330,248-1,063-24,203
      
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 1(c) (XLS 25KB)
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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
         
2012May278,800154,100432,900 279,000157,500436,500
 June286,700165,300452,000 279,600158,900438,500
 July287,800172,500460,300 278,800158,000436,800
 August286,600169,600456,300 278,400157,100435,500
 September273,800155,500429,300 277,500156,900434,400
 October268,500151,600420,200 276,800157,000433,800
 November266,400150,900417,300 275,400157,600433,000
 December269,900153,800423,700 273,900158,000431,900
         
2013January273,600155,800429,400 272,400158,400430,800
 February272,900156,000428,900 271,000158,200429,200
 March269,000156,100425,100 268,200158,200426,400
 April265,000152,600417,600 268,400158,200426,600
 May266,900154,800421,700 267,000158,100425,100
 June270,900164,400435,400 264,000157,900421,900
 July270,300171,700442,000 261,700157,200418,900
 August266,400168,800435,300 258,800156,600415,400
 September254,000154,600408,700 257,100156,100413,300
 October246,800149,800396,500 254,200155,300409,500
 November243,500148,000391,500 251,800154,500406,300
 December245,700149,700395,400 249,600153,700403,300
         
2014January248,700150,900399,600 247,700153,300401,000
 February247,400150,700398,100 245,700152,800398,600
 March243,200148,000391,200 244,000152,400396,400
 April239,500149,000388,600 241,400152,000393,400
 May240,400148,400388,800 240,400151,500391,800
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 2(a) (XLS 28KB)
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Table 2(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2012May44,50028,20072,600 45,10028,80073,900
 June47,60031,50079,100 45,20029,20074,400
 July48,10032,60080,700 44,80028,90073,700
 August47,90032,50080,400 44,60028,60073,200
 September44,40029,30073,700 44,00028,40072,500
 October42,20027,70069,900 43,50028,40071,800
 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 41,70027,90069,600
 March40,30026,20066,600 41,10027,40068,500
 April39,40025,60065,000 40,90027,60068,500
 May40,40026,90067,300 40,90027,50068,400
 June42,10029,20071,300 39,90027,10067,000
 July42,40030,20072,500 39,40026,70066,100
 August41,80030,10071,900 38,90026,60065,500
 September38,90027,30066,200 38,50026,50065,000
 October37,00025,60062,600 38,00026,20064,300
 November35,50024,20059,700 37,50025,90063,400
 December35,30023,80059,100 37,00025,70062,600
         
2014January36,10024,40060,500 36,70025,40062,100
 February36,00024,20060,200 36,30025,10061,400
 March35,30023,60058,900 36,00024,90060,900
 April34,20023,10057,200 35,50024,50060,000
 May34,90023,60058,500 35,30024,10059,400
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 2(b) (XLS 28KB)
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Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2012May234,300126,000360,300 233,900128,600362,600
 June239,100133,800372,900 234,400129,700364,100
 July239,700139,900379,600 234,000129,100363,200
 August238,800137,100375,900 233,800128,400362,300
 September229,400126,300355,600 233,400128,500361,900
 October226,300123,900350,300 233,300128,700361,900
 November225,700124,500350,100 232,500129,300361,700
 December229,100127,700356,800 231,400129,800361,200
         
2013January232,200128,900361,000 230,300130,300360,700
 February231,500129,000360,500 229,300130,300359,600
 March228,700129,900358,500 227,100130,800357,900
 April225,700127,000352,600 227,600130,600358,200
 May226,600127,900354,500 226,200130,600356,700
 June228,800135,200364,000 224,100130,800354,900
 July227,900141,500369,400 222,300130,500352,800
 August224,600138,700363,300 219,900130,000349,900
 September215,200127,300342,500 218,600129,600348,300
 October209,800124,100333,900 216,200129,000345,200
 November208,000123,700331,800 214,300128,600342,900
 December210,400125,900336,300 212,600128,100340,700
         
2014January212,600126,500339,100 211,000127,900338,900
 February211,400126,500337,800 209,400127,700337,200
 March207,900124,400332,400 208,000127,500335,500
 April205,400125,900331,300 205,900127,500333,400
 May205,500124,800330,200 205,000127,400332,400
1 Table contains revised figures.
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 2(c) (XLS 28KB)
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Table 3 Seasonally Adjusted Standardised Unemployment Rates (SUR)1
Month20102011201220132014
 %%%%%
January13.114.515.013.912.1
February213.014.415.113.712.03
March13.214.414.913.612.0
April13.514.414.813.611.8
May213.814.414.713.611.8
June13.714.514.813.3
July13.814.714.713.0
August213.914.814.712.7 
September14.314.714.512.6
October14.514.814.412.4
November214.714.914.212.2
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: January- March 2014, 12.0%.
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 3 (XLS 26KB)
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Table 4 Summary of flows1 on and off the Live Register
   Males Females
  Number of Weeks New Regis-trations Average Weekly Change  New Regis-trations Average Weekly Change
  Live RegisterOutflow (derived) Live RegisterOutflow (derived)
   
JB Claims           
2013May540,1166,5618,123-312 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
 April 427,7514,8986,011-278 29,1216,108     5,116+248
 May526,2015,8117,361-310 26,5847,203     9,740-507
            
JA Applications           
2013May5214,64112,3308,791+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
 April 4198,9747,92110,490-642 96,7885,4535,753-75
 May5201,41911,7079,262+489 98,8478,0836,024+412
            
Other Registrants           
2013May512,164567640-15 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
 April 412,816476442+9 23,109972689+71
 May512,794523545-4  22,9191,0721,262-38
            
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 May 2014 Table 4 (XLS 32KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1May 2013April 2014May 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western82,05373,72174,230+509-7,82311,12363,107
      Border37,47433,58433,774+190-3,7005,15928,615
      Midland20,89818,97319,114+141-1,7843,02316,091
      West23,68121,16421,342+178-2,3392,94118,401
        
      Southern and Eastern184,868165,820166,184+364-18,68423,821142,363
      Dublin66,46960,14360,550+407-5,9198,88951,661
      Mid-East25,59022,72322,857+134-2,7333,34919,508
      Mid-West22,27219,84219,565-277-2,7072,86716,698
      South-East35,14231,58131,819+238-3,3234,74327,076
      South-West35,39531,53131,393-138-4,0023,97327,420
      Total266,921239,541240,414+873-26,50734,944205,470
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western49,54047,60847,563-45-1,9777,75439,809
      Border22,04321,31821,238-80-8053,48517,753
      Midland12,58912,27612,354+78-2352,23210,122
      West14,90814,01413,971-43-9372,03711,934
        
      Southern and Eastern105,276101,410100,787-623-4,48915,81884,969
      Dublin35,55734,38634,390     +4-1,1675,50728,883
      Mid-East15,60415,17015,123-47-4812,22312,900
      Mid-West13,27312,63112,538-93-7352,06610,472
      South-East20,29119,37319,417+44-8743,26716,150
      South-West20,55119,85019,319-531-1,2322,75516,564
      Total154,816149,018148,350-668-6,46623,572124,778
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western131,593121,329121,793+464-9,80018,877102,916
      Border59,51754,90255,012+110-4,5058,64446,368
      Midland33,48731,24931,468+219-2,0195,25526,213
      West38,58935,17835,313+135-3,2764,97830,335
        
      Southern and Eastern290,144267,230266,971-259-23,17339,639227,332
      Dublin102,02694,52994,940+411-7,08614,39680,544
      Mid-East41,19437,89337,980+87-3,2145,57232,408
      Mid-West35,54532,47332,103-370-3,4424,93327,170
      South-East55,43350,95451,236+282-4,1978,01043,226
      South-West55,94651,38150,712-669-5,2346,72843,984
      Total421,737388,559388,764+205-32,97358,516330,248
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 5 (XLS 29KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 May 2013April 2014May 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators9,9919,4679,411-56-5802889,123
Professional11,0639,93110,165+234-8988529,313
Associate professional and technical 6,9466,2796,516+237-4308715,645
Clerical and secretarial11,20210,33610,298-38-9041,2509,048
Craft and related 86,46473,50373,013-490-13,4515,85967,154
Personal and protective service17,91616,82116,658-163-1,2582,20014,458
Sales18,38416,79717,264+467-1,1204,93712,327
Plant and machine operatives53,76649,00248,820-182-4,9466,14942,671
Other occupation38,40234,75935,147+388-3,2556,69228,455
No occupation112,78712,64613,122+476+3355,8467,276
Total 266,921239,541240,414+873-26,50734,944205,470
        
Females       
Managers and administrators7,3426,9817,014+33-3281676,847
Professional12,80211,81511,728-87-1,07482510,903
Associate professional and technical 5,1664,6694,746+77-4204444,302
Clerical and secretarial28,61227,50926,309-1,200-2,3031,53424,775
Craft and related 7,4767,0917,060-31-4169266,134
Personal and protective service32,09331,66831,141-527-9525,28925,852
Sales28,14526,23826,636+398-1,5095,73720,899
Plant and machine operatives15,87615,36115,473+112-4032,23613,237
Other occupation9,7829,81510,090+275+3082,8737,217
No occupation17,5227,8718,153+282+6313,5414,612
Total154,816149,018148,350-668-6,46623,572124,778
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators17,33316,44816,425-23-90845515,970
Professional23,86521,74621,893+147-1,9721,67720,216
Associate professional and technical 12,11210,94811,262+314-8501,3159,947
Clerical and secretarial39,81437,84536,607-1,238-3,2072,78433,823
Craft and related 93,94080,59480,073-521-13,8676,78573,288
Personal and protective service50,00948,48947,799-690-2,2107,48940,310
Sales46,52943,03543,900+865-2,62910,67433,226
Plant and machine operatives69,64264,36364,293-70-5,3498,38555,908
Other occupation48,18444,57445,237+663-2,9479,56535,672
No occupation120,30920,51721,275+758+9669,38711,888
Total 421,737388,559388,764+205-32,97358,516330,248
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 6 (XLS 29KB)
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Table 7 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 May 2013April 2014May 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males       
   Less than one year133,048118,217116,193-2,024-16,85521,25694,937
   One year or more133,873121,324124,221+2,897-9,65213,688110,533
   Total266,921239,541240,414+873-26,50734,944205,470
        
Females       
   Less than one year96,69292,11789,201-2,916-7,49115,70473,497
   One year or more58,12456,90159,149+2,248+1,0257,86851,281
   Total154,816149,018148,350-668-6,46623,572124,778
        
All Persons       
   Less than one year229,740210,334205,394-4,940-24,34636,960168,434
   One year or more191,997178,225183,370+5,145-8,62721,556161,814
   Total421,737388,559388,764+205-32,97358,516330,248
        
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 7 (XLS 25KB)
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Table 8 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
   MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
         
2012May 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
 April 42,207-825 36,158-621 78,365-1,446
 May 41,310-897 35,452-706 76,762-1,603
           
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 8 (XLS 28KB)
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Table 9 Persons on the Live Register classified by nationality grouping 
  Nationality grouping 
  Non-Irish nationals     
   EU15 excl. IRL & UKEU15 to EU281 States     
United Kingdom  Non-Irish nationalsIrish nationalsAll Persons
  Other  
          
2012May17,4473,55141,63414,151 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
 April 14,7573,63837,86711,133 67,395321,164388,559
 May14,6823,64837,09211,388 66,810321,954388,764
          
1With the addition of Croatia from July 2013, EU15- EU28
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 Table 9 (XLS 29KB)
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Table 10 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 May 2011May 2012May 2013May 2014
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males288,29065.4278,76364.4266,92163.3240,41461.8
Females152,65734.6154,14435.6154,81636.7148,35038.2
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years80,96818.472,62316.867,28616.058,51615.1
25 years and over359,97981.6360,28483.2354,45184.0330,24884.9
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims112,10725.493,98921.777,01618.352,78513.6
JA Applications299,63368.0305,99170.7310,78473.7300,26677.2
Other Registrants29,2076.632,9277.633,9378.035,7139.2
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year264,61360.0244,17856.4229,74054.5205,39452.8
One year or more176,33440.0188,72943.6191,99745.5183,37047.2
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals363,96982.5356,12482.3347,90582.5321,95482.8
Non-Irish Nationals76,97817.576,78317.773,83217.566,81017.2
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western136,26030.9132,60530.6131,59331.2121,79331.3
Southern and Eastern304,68769.1300,30269.4290,14468.8266,97168.7
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators16,8753.816,8073.917,3334.116,4254.2
Professional24,0155.423,4685.423,8655.721,8935.6
Associate professional and technical13,0623.012,3162.812,1122.911,2622.9
Clerical and secretarial42,1669.641,0419.539,8149.436,6079.4
Craft and related 112,06225.4103,53923.993,94022.380,07320.6
Personal and protective service49,91811.350,53111.750,00911.947,79912.3
Sales46,71210.647,29810.946,52911.043,90011.3
Plant and machine operatives70,42216.070,23716.269,64216.564,29316.5
Other occupation49,57611.249,12811.348,18411.445,23711.6
No occupation216,1393.718,5424.320,3094.821,2755.5
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work356,01480.7344,84379.7333,79479.1312,00280.3
Casual and part-time work84,93319.388,06420.387,94320.976,76219.7
Total440,947100.0432,907100.0421,737100.0388,764100.0
         
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 May 2014 Table 10 (XLS 16KB)
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Live Register Activation Programmes    
 April 2013March 2014April 2014
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand11387
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand10,48510,27010,406
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 1,027498518
Total Back to Work payments 11,52510,77610,931
    
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive256317322
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 4,8377,3557,419
JobBridge (2011)6,0306,5996,750
Total Other Activation Programmes11,12314,27114,491
        
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 21,18822,83222,961
    
FAS Full Time Training for Unemployed People3 9,3768,6148,723
        
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)4N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)527,83023,84323,335
Total Back to Education Courses 32,83028,84328,335
        
Total Activation Programmes86,04285,33685,441
    
1 This scheme was closed to new applications from 1st May 2009.
2 This scheme was introduced from 1st May 2009. It provides immediate support for someone in receipt of Jobseekers
Benefit who wants to start a business.   
3 Specific Skills Training/Local Training initiative/Traineeship/Return to Work.  
4 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year.
5 BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.
Open in Excel: Live Register May 2014 - Annex (XLS 28KB)
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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: 

May 2014 – 26th April 2014 to 30th May 2014
May 2013 – 27th April 2013 to 31st May 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 Q1 2014 (adjusted for seasonality) are:

 

Q1

%

Q2

%

Q3

%

Q4

%

2009

10.2

12.1

12.6

 13.0

2010

13.0

13.8

13.9

14.7

2011

14.4

14.4

14.8

14.9

2012

15.1

14.7

14.7

14.2

2013

13.7

13.6

12.7

12.2

2014

12.0

      

 

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: 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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Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregistermay2014/

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

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

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