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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Karen Desmond (+353) 21 453 5534 Sabrina Bowen (+353) 21 453 5151 Brian Cahill (+353) 21 453 5173
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-535X
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Live Register

October 2014

 Live Register TotalSeasonally AdjustedStandardised Unemployment Rate (SUR) %
October 2013396,512410,00012.4
September 2014370,050374,90011.1
October 2014358,630371,40011.0
   Percentage Points
Change in month-- 3,500-0.1
Change in year- 37,882--1.4

Standardised unemployment rate at 11.0% in October

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

The standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in October 2014 was 11.0%, down from 11.1% in September 2014.  The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) was 11.5% in the second quarter of 2014. See table 3.

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 3,500 (-0.9%) in October 2014, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 371,400. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 358,630 people signing on the Live Register in October 2014.  This represents an annual decrease of 37,882 (-9.6%). See table 1(a).

 

 Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 2,900 (-1.3%) males in October 2014, while females decreased by 600 (-0.4%) over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 28,981 (-11.7%) to 217,772 in the year to October 2014, while female claimants decreased by 8,901 (-5.9%) to 140,858. This compares with a decrease of 21,792 (-8.1%) to 246,753 for males, while female claimants showed a decrease of 1,868 (-1.2%) to 149,759 in the year to October 2013. See table 1(a).

The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment.  It includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) or Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA).  Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest estimated number of persons unemployed as of the second quarter of 2014 was 254,500.

 

0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
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
June 2014209955188858
July 2014215845188670
Aug 2014210727187598
Sept 2014191662178388
Oct 2014187738170892

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in October 2014 was 170,892.  The number of male long term claimants decreased by 12,856 (-10.2%) in the year to October 2014, while females increased by 1,347 (+2.4%), giving an overall annual decrease of 11,509 (-6.3%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 7 and graph above.

In October 2014, 52.3% (187,738) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for October 2013 was 54.0% (214,111).  The annual fall of 26,373 (-12.3%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 16,125 (-13.3%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 10,248 (-11.0%) in female short term claimants. See table 7.

 

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 71,452 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in October 2014, which represents 19.9% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 20.5% one year earlier when there were 81,319 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to October 2014 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 9,867 (-12.1%), with the number of males decreasing by 5,670 (-12.9%) and the number of females decreasing by 4,197 (-11.2%). See table 8.

Under 25 years25 years and over
October 201269916350256
October 201362580333932
October 201451196307434

Live Register age groups

In the year to October 2014 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 26,498 (-7.9%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 11,384 (-18.2%).  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 14.3% for October 2014, down from 15.8% in October 2013 and 16.6% in October 2012. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and graph above.

 

Live Register new registrants

There were 35,239 new registrants on the Live Register in October 2014, consisting of 12,546 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims, 20,766 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) claims and 1,927 ‘Other Registrants’.  Males accounted for 55.5% (19,556) and females 44.5% (15,683) of all new registrants.  On average 3,911 male and 3,137 female new registrants joined the Live Register each week of the month.  The difference between the number of new registrants on the Live Register and the change in the total number on the Live Register is accounted for by closed claims and movements between schemes. See table 4.

 

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (19.8%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in October, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 13,252 (-15.7%) to 71,093.  The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the Plant and machine operatives group (-10.8%), which in October was also the second largest occupational group (16.3%). The two smallest occupational groups in October were the Managers and administrators and Associate professional and technical groups which accounted for 4.3% and 2.9% of the Live Register respectively. See table 6 and graph below.

Broad Occupational GroupOctober 2012October 2013October 2014
1164451625515338
2245582303720911
3122401154010328
4395983717234815
5973088434571093
6491034805744618
7451234356939110
8674796550758460
9484634610743045
10198552092320912
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 25,671 (-8.5%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 277,533 in October 2014, while JB claimants decreased to 46,110 (-21.2%) over the same period.  As a result JA claimants account for 77.4% of all persons on the Live Register in October 2014 compared with 76.5% 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 (-11.3%) followed by the West region (-10.6%) and South-West at (-10.5%). See table 5.
  • In October Irish nationals accounted for 83.3% (298,739) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 59,891 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (33,324), followed by the UK (13,687). 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.

 

Annex - Activation Programmes

Data up to the end of  September 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 75,588 people availing of these programmes in September 2014, which is a decrease of 362 (-0.5%) from the previous year, when there were 75,950 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
CategoryOctober 2013September 2014October 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims29,31522,12622,129+3-7,186
    JA Applications205,096190,338183,349-6,989-21,747
    Other Registrants12,34212,35512,294-61-48
    Total246,753224,819217,772-7,047-28,981
      
Females     
    JB Claims29,21524,15023,981-169-5,234
    JA Applications98,10898,27294,184-4,088-3,924
    Other Registrants22,43622,80922,693-116+257
    Total149,759145,231140,858-4,373-8,901
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims58,53046,27646,110-166-12,420
    JA Applications303,204288,610277,533-11,077-25,671
    Other Registrants34,77835,16434,987-177+209
    Total396,512370,050358,630-11,420-37,882
      
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryOctober 2013September 2014October 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims1,9021,2941,298+4-604
    JA Applications34,97030,74928,705-2,044-6,265
    Other Registrants969293+1-3
    Total36,96832,13530,096-2,039-6,872
      
Females     
    JB Claims2,0401,4331,383-50-657
    JA Applications23,39421,40319,553-1,850-3,841
    Other Registrants178167164-3-14
    Total25,61223,00321,100-1,903-4,512
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims3,9422,7272,681-46-1,261
    JA Applications58,36452,15248,258-3,894-10,106
    Other Registrants274259257-2-17
    Total62,58055,13851,196-3,942-11,384
      
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryOctober 2013September 2014October 2014Monthly changeAnnual change
      
Males     
    JB Claims27,41320,83220,831-1-6,582
    JA Applications170,126159,589154,644-4,945-15,482
    Other Registrants12,24612,26312,201-62-45
    Total209,785192,684187,676-5,008-22,109
      
Females     
    JB Claims27,17522,71722,598-119-4,577
    JA Applications74,71476,86974,631-2,238-83
    Other Registrants22,25822,64222,529-113+271
    Total124,147122,228119,758-2,470-4,389
      
All Persons     
    JB Claims54,58843,54943,429-120-11,159
    JA Applications244,840236,458229,275-7,183-15,565
    Other Registrants34,50434,90534,730-175+226
    Total333,932314,912307,434-7,478-26,498
      
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2012October268,500151,600420,200 277,000157,000434,000
 November266,400150,900417,300 275,700157,700433,300
 December269,900153,800423,700 274,200158,100432,200
         
2013January273,600155,800429,400 272,500158,400431,000
 February272,900156,000428,900 271,000158,200429,200
 March269,000156,100425,100 268,200158,100426,400
 April265,000152,600417,600 268,100158,000426,100
 May266,900154,800421,700 266,300157,900424,200
 June270,900164,400435,400 263,900157,900421,800
 July270,300171,700442,000 261,700157,200418,900
 August266,400168,800435,300 258,700156,500415,200
 September254,000154,600408,700 257,400156,300413,700
 October246,800149,800396,500 254,600155,400410,000
 November243,500148,000391,500 252,100154,600406,700
 December245,700149,700395,400 249,900153,900403,700
         
2014January248,700150,900399,600 247,800153,400401,300
 February247,400150,700398,100 245,800152,800398,600
 March243,200148,000391,200 243,900152,300396,300
 April239,500149,000388,600 241,000151,800392,800
 May240,400148,400388,800 239,400151,100390,600
 June242,700156,100398,800 236,400149,800386,200
 July241,300163,200404,500 233,600149,100382,700
 August238,100160,300398,300 231,200148,400379,600
 September224,800145,200370,100 227,800147,100374,900
 October217,800140,900358,600 224,900146,500371,400
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
         
2012October42,20027,70069,900 43,60028,40071,900 
 November40,70026,50067,200 43,10028,30071,400 
 December40,80026,20066,900 42,60028,20070,900 
          
2013January41,50026,90068,400 42,10028,10070,200 
 February41,40027,00068,400 41,70028,00069,700 
 March40,30026,20066,600 41,10027,40068,400 
 April39,40025,60065,000 40,80027,60068,400 
 May40,40026,90067,300 40,50027,50068,100 
 June42,10029,20071,300 39,90027,10067,000 
 July42,40030,20072,500 39,40026,70066,100 
 August41,80030,10071,900 38,80026,50065,300 
 September38,90027,30066,200 38,60026,50065,100 
 October37,00025,60062,600 38,20026,30064,400 
 November35,50024,20059,700 37,60026,00063,600 
 December35,30023,80059,100 37,10025,70062,800 
          
2014January36,10024,40060,500 36,80025,50062,200 
 February36,00024,20060,200 36,30025,10061,400 
 March35,30023,60058,900 35,90024,90060,900 
 April34,20023,10057,200 35,40024,50059,900 
 May34,90023,60058,500 34,90024,10059,000 
 June36,00025,40061,400 34,10023,60057,700 
 July35,90026,20062,100 33,40023,20056,600
 August35,40026,10061,500 32,80022,90055,700
 September32,10023,00055,100 31,90022,30054,200
 October30,10021,10051,200 31,10021,70052,800
1 Table contains revised figures.
Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted Series Seasonally Adjusted Series1
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
         
2012October226,300123,900350,300 233,400128,700362,100
 November225,700124,500350,100 232,600129,300362,000
 December229,100127,700356,800 231,500129,800361,400
         
2013January232,200128,900361,000 230,400130,300360,700
 February231,500129,000360,500 229,300130,300359,500
 March228,700129,900358,500 227,200130,800357,900
 April225,700127,000352,600 227,300130,500357,800
 May226,600127,900354,500 225,800130,400356,200
 June228,800135,200364,000 224,000130,800354,800
 July227,900141,500369,400 222,300130,500352,700
 August224,600138,700363,300 219,900130,000349,900
 September215,200127,300342,500 218,800129,800348,600
 October209,800124,100333,900 216,400129,100345,500
 November208,000123,700331,800 214,500128,700343,200
 December210,400125,900336,300 212,800128,200340,900
         
2014January212,600126,500339,100 211,100128,000339,000
 February211,400126,500337,800 209,400127,700337,200
 March207,900124,400332,400 208,000127,400335,400
 April205,400125,900331,300 205,600127,300332,900
 May205,500124,800330,200 204,500127,100331,600
 June206,700130,700337,400 202,300126,200328,500
 July205,400137,000342,400 200,200125,900326,100
 August202,600134,200336,800 198,300125,500323,800
 September192,700122,200314,900 195,900124,800320,800
 October187,700119,800307,400 193,800124,800318,600
1 Table contains revised figures.
Table 3 Seasonally Adjusted Standardised Unemployment Rates (SUR)1
Month20102011201220132014
 %%%%%
January13.114.515.013.912.1
February213.014.415.113.712.0 
March13.214.414.913.611.9
April13.514.414.813.611.7
May213.814.414.713.611.53
June13.714.514.813.311.4
July13.814.714.713.011.3
August213.914.814.712.711.2 
September14.314.714.512.611.1
October14.514.814.412.411.0
November214.714.914.212.2 
December14.715.014.112.2 
      
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: April- June 2014, 11.5%.
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           
2013October429,3156,1737,460-322 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
 June425,7804,6115,032-105 28,9447,078     4,718+590
 July425,6245,0085,164-39 33,7899,967     5,122+1,211
 August524,2015,0316,454-285 31,0935,978     8,674-539
 September422,1264,2476,322-519 24,1504,714     11,657-1,736
 October522,1296,3046,301+1 23,9816,242     6,411-34
            
JA Applications           
2013October4205,09611,83017,889-1,515 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
 June4204,15710,3567,618+685 103,9199,2784,206+1,268
 July4203,0439,49610,610-279 105,6088,0616,372+422
 August5201,26311,33913,119-356 105,5908,0828,100-4
 September4190,33810,45621,381-2,731 98,2727,37614,694-1,830
 October5183,34912,58519,574-1,398 94,1848,18112,269-818
            
Other Registrants           
2013October412,342760707+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
 June412,760449483-9  23,2531,103769+84
 July412,650549659-28  23,8011,5641,016+137
 August512,598566618-10  23,5801,0641,285-44
 September412,355500743-61  22,8099241,695-193
 October512,294667728-12  22,6931,2601,376-23
            
1 Flow analysis: inflows and outflows published in this table do not take account of inter-scheme activity within the Live Register. For example,
if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim this is counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA. 
Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions1October 2013September 2014October 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
        
Males       
      Border, Midland and Western76,13769,28767,441-1,846-8,6969,62757,814
      Border34,65431,86430,941-923-3,7134,59726,344
      Midland19,65817,92017,447-473-2,2112,59414,853
      West21,82519,50319,053-450-2,7722,43616,617
        
      Southern and Eastern170,616155,532150,331-5,201-20,28520,469129,862
      Dublin61,52757,04654,553-2,493-6,9747,63046,923
      Mid-East23,52221,35420,657-697-2,8652,95617,701
      Mid-West20,71418,54018,006-534-2,7082,54115,465
      South-East32,58129,82128,987-834-3,5944,07124,916
      South-West32,27228,77128,128-643-4,1443,27124,857
      Total246,753224,819217,772-7,047-28,98130,096187,676
        
Females       
      Border, Midland and Western47,94246,76245,518-1,244-2,4247,16238,356
      Border21,48321,02320,511-512-9723,35317,158
      Midland12,27312,25211,884-368-3892,0829,802
      West14,18613,48713,123-364-1,0631,72711,396
        
      Southern and Eastern101,81798,46995,340-3,129-6,47713,93881,402
      Dublin34,62133,93232,168-1,764-2,4534,81427,354
      Mid-East15,19714,96114,596-365-6012,06412,532
      Mid-West12,85912,12211,785-337-1,0741,8299,956
      South-East19,49919,00818,446-562-1,0532,86015,586
      South-West19,64118,44618,345-101-1,2962,37115,974
      Total149,759145,231140,858-4,373-8,90121,100119,758
        
All Persons       
      Border, Midland and Western124,079116,049112,959-3,090-11,12016,78996,170
      Border56,13752,88751,452-1,435-4,6857,95043,502
      Midland31,93130,17229,331-841-2,6004,67624,655
      West36,01132,99032,176-814-3,8354,16328,013
        
      Southern and Eastern272,433254,001245,671-8,330-26,76234,407211,264
      Dublin96,14890,97886,721-4,257-9,42712,44474,277
      Mid-East38,71936,31535,253-1,062-3,4665,02030,233
      Mid-West33,57330,66229,791-871-3,7824,37025,421
      South-East52,08048,82947,433-1,396-4,6476,93140,502
      South-West51,91347,21746,473-744-5,4405,64240,831
      Total396,512370,050358,630-11,420-37,88251,196307,434
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
 October 2013September 2014October 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Broad occupational group
        
Males       
Managers and administrators9,4109,0448,896-148-5142918,605
Professional10,4819,9189,429-489-1,0528188,611
Associate professional and technical 6,5836,1895,867-322-7167905,077
Clerical and secretarial10,2659,9019,554-347-7111,0428,512
Craft and related 77,37666,54764,357-2,190-13,0194,68159,676
Personal and protective service16,73115,29115,047-244-1,6841,79313,254
Sales16,95515,93014,985-945-1,9704,00910,976
Plant and machine operatives50,07545,03743,992-1,045-6,0835,14338,849
Other occupation36,12333,79432,971-823-3,1526,06826,903
No occupation112,75413,16812,674-494-805,4617,213
Total 246,753224,819217,772-7,047-28,98130,096187,676
        
Females       
Managers and administrators6,8456,6226,442-180-4031206,322
Professional12,55612,09911,482-617-1,07486310,619
Associate professional and technical 4,9574,6774,461-216-4964204,041
Clerical and secretarial26,90725,67925,261-418-1,6461,35523,906
Craft and related 6,9696,8296,736-93-2338475,889
Personal and protective service31,32630,09429,571-523-1,7554,57025,001
Sales26,61425,31024,125-1,185-2,4894,69319,432
Plant and machine operatives15,43214,87114,468-403-9642,04312,425
Other occupation9,98410,45510,074-381+902,7317,343
No occupation18,1698,5958,238-357+693,4584,780
Total149,759145,231140,858-4,373-8,90121,100119,758
        
All Persons       
Managers and administrators16,25515,66615,338-328-91741114,927
Professional23,03722,01720,911-1,106-2,1261,68119,230
Associate professional and technical 11,54010,86610,328-538-1,2121,2109,118
Clerical and secretarial37,17235,58034,815-765-2,3572,39732,418
Craft and related 84,34573,37671,093-2,283-13,2525,52865,565
Personal and protective service48,05745,38544,618-767-3,4396,36338,255
Sales43,56941,24039,110-2,130-4,4598,70230,408
Plant and machine operatives65,50759,90858,460-1,448-7,0477,18651,274
Other occupation46,10744,24943,045-1,204-3,0628,79934,246
No occupation120,92321,76320,912-851-118,91911,993
Total 396,512370,050358,630-11,420-37,88251,196307,434
        
1 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Table 7 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
 October 2013September 2014October 2014Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Duration
        
Males       
   Less than one year121,261106,911105,136-1,775-16,12518,77586,361
   One year or more125,492117,908112,636-5,272-12,85611,321101,315
   Total246,753224,819217,772-7,047-28,98130,096187,676
        
Females       
   Less than one year92,85084,75182,602-2,149-10,24814,38368,219
   One year or more56,90960,48058,256-2,224+1,3476,71751,539
   Total149,759145,231140,858-4,373-8,90121,100119,758
        
All Persons       
   Less than one year214,111191,662187,738-3,924-26,37333,158154,580
   One year or more182,401178,388170,892-7,496-11,50918,038152,854
   Total396,512370,050358,630-11,420-37,88251,196307,434
        
Table 8 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
   MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
         
2012October 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
 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
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  
          
2012October16,7673,47739,34713,906 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
 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
1With the addition of Croatia from July 2013, EU15- EU28
Table 10 Live Register Compositional Analysis
 October 2011October 2012October 2013October 2014
  % of total % of total % of total % of total
 NumberNumberNumberNumber
Sex        
Males277,59564.5268,54563.9246,75362.2217,77260.7
Females152,83735.5151,62736.1149,75937.8140,85839.3
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
        
Age        
Under 25 years77,70918.169,91616.662,58015.851,19614.3
25 years and over352,72381.9350,25683.4333,93284.2307,43485.7
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
        
Scheme        
JB Claims99,01323.081,61819.458,53014.846,11012.9
JA Applications301,33370.0305,59372.7303,20476.5277,53377.4
Other Registrants30,0867.032,9617.834,7788.834,9879.8
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
         
Duration of Continuous Registration        
Less than one year250,65958.2232,05555.2214,11154.0187,73852.3
One year or more179,77341.8188,11744.8182,40146.0170,89247.7
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
         
Nationality Grouping        
Irish Nationals355,39582.6346,67582.5328,97583.0298,73983.3
Non-Irish Nationals75,03717.473,49717.567,53717.059,89116.7
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
         
NUTS2 Regions1        
Border, Midland and Western132,51730.8130,16731.0124,07931.3112,95931.5
Southern and Eastern297,91569.2290,00569.0272,43368.7245,67168.5
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
         
Last Held Occupation        
Managers and administrators16,3963.816,4453.916,2554.115,3384.3
Professional24,5895.724,5585.823,0375.820,9115.8
Associate professional and technical12,5802.912,2402.911,5402.910,3282.9
Clerical and secretarial41,0639.539,5989.437,1729.434,8159.7
Craft and related 104,81024.397,30823.284,34521.371,09319.8
Personal and protective service49,64911.549,10311.748,05712.144,61812.4
Sales45,93310.745,12310.743,56911.039,11010.9
Plant and machine operatives68,52215.967,47916.165,50716.558,46016.3
Other occupation49,22511.448,46311.546,10711.643,04512.0
No occupation217,6654.119,8554.720,9235.320,9125.8
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
         
Casual Status        
No casual and part-time work345,40380.2334,50979.6315,19379.5287,17880.1
Casual and part-time work85,02919.885,66320.481,31920.571,45219.9
Total430,432100.0420,172100.0396,512100.0358,630100.0
         
1 The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes.
2 Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation.
Live Register Activation Programmes    
 September 2013August 2014September 2014
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand11255
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand10,25910,73210,746
Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 823580570
Total Back to Work payments 11,09411,31711,321
    
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive172317357
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 6,7407,4777,494
JobBridge (2011)5,6036,0536,298
Total Other Activation Programmes12,51513,84714,149
        
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) 21,56023,12422,941
    
FAS Full Time Training for Unemployed People(3) 8,0796,5347,662
        
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)4N/AN/AN/A
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)517,7023,11514,515
Total Back to Education Courses 22,7028,11519,515
        
Total Activation Programmes75,95062,93775,588
    
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.

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: 

October 2014 – 27th September to 31st October 2014
October 2013 – 28th September to 25th October 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 Q2 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

11.5

   

 

Seasonal Adjustment

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

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

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

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

 

Jobseeker’s Benefit Duration

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

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

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

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

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

 

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)

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

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

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

For information on the age-related changes to the OFP scheme from July 2013, please see the following link to the Department of Social Protection website:

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/278_One-Parent-Family-Payment.aspx

 

Live Register Flows

Live Register flows data is sourced from information collected by the Department of Social Protection.  The aggregate of new registrations for each month is used in conjunction with the net change over the same period to calculate the outflow from the register.  A new registration is defined as anybody on the Live Register in a particular month who was not on it the previous month.  Inflows and outflows published in this release do not take account of inter-scheme activity within the Live Register.  For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim this is counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA.

 

 

Live Register Area Analysis

The basis of the area analysis in Live Register statistics is the Department of Social Protection local office of registration.  The areas served by Local Employment Offices do not correspond to specific geographic boundaries.  Therefore, registrants at a given local office do not necessarily come from a particular region or area which can be precisely delineated e.g. data for the Cork City Local Office of Registration refers to all persons signing on in Cork City but may include persons not resident in Cork City.  The latest available Live Register data by Province, County and Local Office of Registration will be released on the CSO website through the CSO StatBank one day after the publication of this release, see link here.

 

NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions

The Regional classifications are based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) classification used by Eurostat.  The NUTS3 regions correspond to the eight Regional Authorities established under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993, which came into operation on 1 January 1994.  The NUTS2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed by Eurostat in 1999, are groupings of the NUTS3 regions.

Border, Midland and Western NUTS2 Region      Southern and Eastern NUTS2 Region          
Border Cavan Dublin Dublin City
  Donegal   Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
  Leitrim   Fingal
  Louth   South Dublin
  Monaghan    
  Sligo Mid-East Kildare
      Meath
Midland Laois   Wicklow
  Longford Mid-West Clare
  Offaly   Limerick City
  Westmeath   Limerick County
      North Tipperary
West Galway City    
  Galway County South-East Carlow
  Mayo   Kilkenny
  Roscommon   South Tipperary
      Waterford City
      Waterford County
      Wexford
       
    South-West Cork City
      Cork County
      Kerry

 

Occupations

Live Register occupational data is sourced from information collected by the Department of Social Protection on the most recent occupation of claimants when they sign on the Live Register.  The classification used is based on the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).  “No occupation” is an additional category and includes those who have never worked and those who have no stated occupation.

 

Age by Duration Analysis

Detailed tables relating to regional and scheme data are available on the CSO website through the CSO Main Data Dissemination Service, StatBank 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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