LFS estimates were updated on 22nd Feb 2024 to incorporate updated population estimates for the period 2016 Q3 to 2023 Q3, based on the results of Census 2022. LFS results are updated in this way following each Census of Population. For further information see Background Notes.
The data in this publication does not reflect these updates. Please refer to the relevant tables on LFS Px-stat for updated LFS estimates.
This release has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis using data from the Labour Force Survey. The results contained in this release reflect some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation. For further information see: Information Note - Implications of COVID-19 on the Labour Force Survey - Quarter 2 2020 Update.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a continuous household survey carried out by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and is the official source of employment and unemployment estimates for Ireland.
The official labour market classification of respondents to the LFS is based on International Labour Organisation (ILO) concepts and definitions. The ILO measures are the international standard, and all European Union (EU) Member States are legally obliged to compile and provide this data to Eurostat on a quarterly basis through the LFS.
A new framework regulation governing the production of European Statistics on persons and households came into force on 01 January 2021. It is called the Integration of European Social Statistics (IESS) regulation. The IESS regulation covers various domains of social statistics including labour market statistics. Please see Implications of the Implementation of the Integration of European Social Statistics (IESS) Framework Regulation on Labour Market Statistics in Ireland in 2021 for details on the implications of the new framework regulation for the Labour Market Statistics in Ireland and Technical Note for details of the effect of same on the LFS data series.
Users should note that the COVID-19 Adjusted Measures of Employment and Unemployment, which had been published by the CSO in parallel with standard ILO labour market estimates in the LFS since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been discontinued with effect from Q1 2022.
The COVID-19 Adjusted Measures of Employment and Unemployment were introduced because it was felt that the impact of COVID-19 government income support schemes was not fully captured in labour market statistics based on ILO criteria. These measures were produced by adjusting ILO measures of employment and unemployment by the numbers of persons in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) at the end of each reference period. With the PUP scheme having finished on the 25 March 2022, COVID-19 Adjusted Measures of Employment and Unemployment in the LFS have been discontinued, since the number of persons in receipt of the PUP at the end of the reference period is zero.
Statistical data on the number of persons in receipt of the PUP and other income support schemes since the beginning of the pandemic are available on the PxStat data portal.
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