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For more information on this release:
E-mail: labour@cso.ie Marie O'Connor (+353) 21 453 5298 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 2019

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
March 2018232,366232,100
February 2019196,934197,100
March 2019192,407194,800
   
Change in month- -2,300
Change in year -39,959-

Seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreases by 2,300 in March

Live Register seasonally adjusted
go to full release

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 2,300 (-1.2%) in March 2019, bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 194,800. The number of persons on the Live Register in March 2019 is also the lowest number recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since February 2008. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 192,407 persons signing on the Live Register in March 2019. This represents an annual decrease of 39,959 (-17.2%). See table 1(a).

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 1,400 (-1.3%) males in March 2019, while females decreased by 1,000 (-1.1%) over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • The number of male claimants decreased by 23,451 (-17.7%) to 109,130 in the year to March 2019, while female claimants decreased by 16,508 (-16.5%) to 83,277. This compares with a decrease of 23,135 (-14.9%) to 132,581 for males, while female claimants decreased by 11,701 (-10.5%) to 99,785 in the year to March 2018. 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 Labour Force Survey.

The Monthly Unemployment Rate (seasonally adjusted) is published in the Monthly Unemployment release.
0
DurationLess than one yearOne year or more
March 2017153245113957
April 2017151610111807
May 2017148930113772
June 2017153521115205
July 2017160457113928
August 2017152457111799
September 2017138980105339
October 2017134902101590
November 201713430498905
December 201713835097918
January 201813937998007
February 201813877096574
March 201813763394733
April 201813089392709
May 201812880594697
June 201813328794778
July 201814092393522
August 201813318991969
September 201811932486406
October 201811624982998
November 201811570480557
December 201812012779542
January 201912061779010
February 201911952177413
March 201911630076107

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in March 2019 was 76,107. The number of male long term claimants decreased by 11,888 (-20.9%) in the year to March 2019, while females decreased by 6,738 (-17.8%), giving an overall annual decrease of 18,626 (-19.7%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 6 and figure 2.

In March 2019, 60.4% (116,300) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for March 2018 was 59.2% (137,633). The annual fall of 21,333 (-15.5%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 11,563 (-15.3%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 9,770 (-15.8%) in female short term claimants. See table 6.

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 40,759 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in March 2019, which represents 21.2% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 21.3% one year earlier when there were 49,466 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to March 2019 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 8,707 (-17.6%), with the number of males decreasing by 5,106 (-20.5%) and the number of females decreasing by 3,601 (-14.7%). See table 7.

Under 25 years25 years and over
March 201730849236353
March 201825038207328
March 201920450171957

Live Register age groups

In the year to March 2019 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 35,371 (-17.1%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 4,588 (-18.3%).  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 10.6% for March 2019, down from 10.8% in March 2018 and 11.5% in March 2017. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and figure 3.

Live Register new registrants

There were 12,937 new registrants on the Live Register in March 2019, consisting of 6,949 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) claims, 5,639 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims and 349 “Other Registrants”. Males accounted for 58.2% (7,525) and females accounted for 41.8% (5,412) of all new registrants. JA claims represented 53.7% of all new registrations, while JB claims and “Other Registrants” represented 43.6% and 2.7% respectively.  See table 3.

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (17.1%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in March. The number in the group fell over the year by 7,759 to 32,966.   Clerical and Secretarial had the largest annual percentage decrease (-20.9%).  Craft and related was the second largest annual percentage decrease (-19.1%).

The two smallest occupational groups in March were the Associate professional and technical and the Managers and administrators groups which accounted for 3.4% and 5.3% of the Live Register respectively. See table 5 and figure 4.

Broad Occupational GroupMarch 2017March 2018March 2019
1124821137210112
2149981376011148
3831772536600
4269442607020620
5492994072532966
6351973091625838
7289312386819824
8426803618729610
9319742829123690
10163801392411999
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 31,004 (-18.7%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 134,405 in March 2019, while JB claimants decreased to 34,563 (-13.2%) over the same period.  As a result, JA claimants account for 69.9% of all persons on the Live Register in March 2019 compared with 71.2% a year earlier. See table 1(a).
  • Annual decreases occurred in all the eight NUTS 3 regions with the largest percentage decrease occurring in the South-West region (-21.2%) followed by the Midland region (-19.2%). See table 4.
  • In March, Irish nationals accounted for 81.9% (157,591) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 34,816 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (18,873), followed by the UK (7,557). See table 8.

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 February 2019 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 51,638 people availing of these programmes in February 2019, which is a decrease of 6,246 persons (-10.8%) from the previous year, when there were 57,884 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 2018February 2019March 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims18,86817,51216,891-621-1,977
    JA Applications104,82686,17384,711-1,462-20,115
    Other Registrants8,8877,6327,528-104-1,359
    Total132,581111,317109,130-2,187-23,451
 
Females
    JB Claims20,97318,84717,672-1,175-3,301 
    JA Applications60,58350,63149,694-937-10,889
    Other Registrants18,22916,13915,911-228-2,318
    Total99,78585,61783,277-2,340-16,508
 
All Persons
    JB Claims39,84136,35934,563-1,796-5,278
    JA Applications165,409136,804134,405-2,399-31,004 
    Other Registrants27,11623,77123,439-332-3,677
    Total232,366196,934192,407-4,527-39,959
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 1(a) (XLS 35KB)
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Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2018February 2019March 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,2311,1831,218+35-13
    JA Applications13,48811,00310,754-249-2,734
    Other Registrants8758580-29
    Total14,80612,24412,030-214-2,776
 
Females
    JB Claims1,0131,1281,059-69+46
    JA Applications9,1367,4427,312-130-1,824
    Other Registrants835449-5-34
    Total10,2328,6248,420-204-1,812
 
All Persons
    JB Claims2,2442,3112,277-34+33
    JA Applications22,62418,44518,066-379-4,558
    Other Registrants170112107-5-63
    Total25,03820,86820,450-418-4,588
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 1(b) (XLS 36KB)
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Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMarch 2018February 2019March 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims17,63716,32915,673-656-1,964
    JA Applications91,33875,17073,957-1,213-17,381
    Other Registrants8,8007,5747,470-104-1,330
    Total117,77599,07397,100-1,973-20,675
 
Females
    JB Claims19,96017,71916,613-1,106-3,347
    JA Applications51,44743,18942,382-807-9,065
    Other Registrants18,14616,08515,862-223-2,284 
    Total89,55376,99374,857-2,136-14,696
 
All Persons
    JB Claims37,59734,04832,286-1,762-5,311
    JA Applications142,785118,359116,339-2,020-26,446
    Other Registrants26,94623,65923,332-327-3,614
    Total207,328176,066171,957-4,109-35,371
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 1(c) (XLS 36KB)
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Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2017March155,716111,486267,202155,500114,700270,200
 April152,653110,764263,417153,000112,800265,900
 May152,460110,242262,702151,400112,200263,600
 June152,665116,061268,726149,100110,700259,800
 July151,513122,872274,385147,100109,500256,500
 August148,265115,991264,256144,700107,000251,700
 September140,120104,199244,319142,900107,000249,900
 October135,968100,524236,492141,200105,900247,000
 November133,95999,250233,209139,100104,900244,000
 December135,329100,939236,268137,100103,700240,800
 
2018January136,735100,651237,386135,400102,700238,100
 February135,333100,011235,344133,800101,600235,400
 March132,58199,785232,366131,600100,500232,100
 April128,34995,253223,602129,20099,300228,500
 May127,69995,803223,502126,80097,700224,500
 June126,981101,084228,065124,10096,100220,200
 July126,252108,193234,445122,60095,300217,800
 August123,354101,804225,158120,50093,500214,100
 September115,89089,840205,730118,30092,800211,200
 October112,39786,850199,247116,70092,100208,800
 November110,83685,425196,261115,10090,800205,900
 December112,41487,255199,669113,80089,700203,500
 
2019January113,15486,473199,627111,90088,300200,300
 February111,31785,617196,934110,10087,100197,100
 March109,13083,277192,407 108,70086,100194,800
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 2(a) (XLS 41KB)
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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
2017March18,11012,73930,84918,20013,30031,500
 April17,34012,38529,72517,70013,00030,600
 May17,59612,65730,25317,40012,70030,100
 June18,02313,70931,73217,10012,50029,600
 July17,94914,28832,23716,80012,40029,200
 August17,87013,81331,68316,50012,00028,600
 September16,43612,03528,47116,40011,90028,300
 October15,40411,02926,43316,20011,70027,900
 November14,61510,33624,95115,80011,40027,300
 December14,51110,16424,67515,50011,30026,800
 
2018January15,14910,47525,62415,30011,00026,300
 February15,14310,50425,64715,10010,80025,900
 March14,80610,23225,03814,80010,50025,400
 April14,3379,78424,12114,60010,30024,900
 May14,48910,14624,63514,30010,20024,500
 June14,65810,79025,44813,9009,90023,800
 July14,61911,36925,98813,7009,80023,500
 August14,58311,05025,63313,5009,60023,100
 September13,2759,39522,67013,3009,30022,600
 October12,3928,66321,05513,0009,20022,300
 November11,8328,18020,01212,8009,10021,900
 December11,7988,12319,92112,6009,00021,600
 
2019January12,3088,56920,87712,4009,00021,400
 February12,2448,62420,86812,2008,80021,000
 March12,0308,42020,450 12,0008,70020,800
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 2(b) (XLS 39KB)
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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
2017March137,60698,747236,353 137,300101,400238,700
 April135,31398,379233,692 135,40099,800235,200
 May134,86497,585232,449 134,00099,500233,500
 June134,642102,352236,994 132,00098,200230,200
 July133,564108,584242,148 130,20097,100227,400
 August130,395102,178232,573 128,20095,000223,200
 September123,68492,164215,848 126,50095,100221,600
 October120,56489,495210,059 125,00094,200219,100
 November119,34488,914208,258 123,30093,500216,800
 December120,81890,775211,593 121,60092,500214,000
 
2018January121,58690,176211,762 120,10091,700211,800
 February120,19089,507209,697 118,80090,800209,500
 March117,77589,553207,328 116,70089,900206,700
 April114,01285,469199,481 114,60088,900203,500
 May113,21085,657198,867 112,50087,600200,000
 June112,32390,294202,617 110,20086,200196,400
 July111,63396,824208,457 108,90085,500194,300
 August108,77190,754199,525 107,00083,900190,900
 September102,61580,445183,060 105,10083,500188,600
 October100,00578,187178,192 103,70082,800186,500
 November99,00477,245176,249 102,30081,700184,000
 December100,61679,132179,748 101,20080,700181,900
 
2019January100,84677,904178,750 99,50079,400178,900
 February99,07376,993176,066 97,90078,200176,100
 March97,10074,857171,957 96,70077,300174,000
¹ Table contains revised figures
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 2(c) (XLS 40KB)
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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
2018February19,2003,77615,4243,404 20,2783,51216,7662,904 39,4787,28832,1906,308
 March18,8683,97314,8953,736 20,9734,75516,2183,519 39,8418,72831,1137,255
 April17,6813,22814,4533,924 18,3512,81715,5344,963 36,0326,04529,9878,887
 May16,9723,59113,3813,771 18,0753,71014,3653,423 35,0477,30127,7467,194
 June16,9493,20213,7472,796 21,5496,37815,1712,407 38,4989,58028,9185,203
 July17,5013,74313,7582,690 27,2558,51718,7382,312 44,75612,26032,4965,002
 August16,5193,32913,1903,773 22,9773,60219,3757,287 39,4966,93132,56511,060
 September15,0892,72212,3673,750 17,1692,93314,2368,313 32,2585,65526,60312,063
 October15,1293,31111,8182,769 16,8363,13213,7042,966 31,9656,44325,5225,735
 November15,5494,11711,4323,149 17,1103,92313,1873,172 32,6598,04024,6196,321
 December16,8623,51713,3451,727 19,0603,99015,0701,684 35,9227,50728,4153,411
 
2019January17,8254,92712,8983,466 18,9334,39714,5364,166 36,7589,32427,4347,632
 February17,5123,43614,0763,346 18,8473,35915,4883,049 36,3596,79529,5646,395
 March16,8913,09813,7933,290 17,6722,54115,1313,310 34,5635,63928,9246,600
JA Applications
2018February107,1365,946101,1907,660 61,4193,55157,8684,588 168,5559,497159,05812,248
 March104,8265,56899,2588,370 60,5833,74956,8344,972 165,4099,317156,09213,342
 April101,8874,70597,1828,073 58,9612,98555,9764,942 160,8487,690153,15813,015
 May102,1069,06793,0399,329 59,9866,15853,8285,526 162,09215,225146,86714,855
 June101,5166,67494,8427,635 61,5335,52556,0084,295 163,04912,199150,85011,930
 July100,2325,38394,8497,102 62,4254,79257,6334,229 162,65710,175152,48211,331
 August98,4265,87992,5478,141 60,7073,99056,7176,087 159,1339,869149,26414,228
 September92,6125,32787,28511,482 55,2803,66551,6159,384 147,8928,992138,90020,866
 October89,1645,36983,7959,243 52,8603,32449,5366,074 142,0248,693133,33115,317
 November87,3526,40580,9478,689 51,4803,82347,6575,509 138,83210,228128,60414,198
 December87,7294,16683,5634,208 51,5542,64548,9092,815 139,2836,811132,4727,023
 
2019January87,6175,97281,6456,545 51,2683,88847,3804,471 138,8859,860129,02511,016
 February86,1734,90481,2696,688 50,6313,23847,3934,155 136,8048,142128,66210,843
 March84,7114,31280,3996,153 49,6942,63747,0573,862 134,4056,949127,45610,015
Other Registrants
2018February8,9972158,782277 18,31435917,955568 27,31157426,737845
 March8,8871908,697375 18,22943317,796674 27,11662326,4931,049
 April8,7811578,624326 17,94125217,689680 26,72240926,3131,006
 May8,6211938,428399 17,74240217,340773 26,36359525,7681,172
 June8,5161588,358320 18,00257917,423500 26,51873725,781820
 July8,5192248,295287 18,51386117,652520 27,0321,08525,947807
 August8,4091838,226376 18,12043117,6891,037 26,52961425,9151,413
 September8,1891488,041430 17,39127317,1181,137 25,58042125,1591,567
 October8,1041937,911353 17,15435216,802759 25,25854524,7131,112
 November7,9351997,736443 16,83543516,400926 24,77063424,1361,369
 December7,8231677,656336 16,64134216,299649 24,46450923,955985
 
2019January7,7122367,476382 16,27230815,964740 23,98454423,4401,122
 February7,6321467,486290 16,13932315,816571 23,77146923,302861
 March7,5281157,413268 15,91123415,677581 23,43934923,090849
All Schemes
2018February135,3339,937125,39611,341 100,0117,42292,5898,060 235,34417,359217,98519,401
 March132,5819,731122,85012,481 99,7858,93790,8489,165 232,36618,668213,69821,646
 April128,3498,090120,25912,323 95,2536,05489,19910,585 223,60214,144209,45822,908
 May127,69912,851114,84813,499 95,80310,27085,5339,722 223,50223,121200,38123,221
 June126,98110,034116,94710,751 101,08412,48288,6027,202 228,06522,516205,54917,953
 July126,2529,350116,90210,079 108,19314,17094,0237,061 234,44523,520210,92517,140
 August123,3549,391113,96312,290 101,8048,02393,78114,411 225,15817,414207,74426,701
 September115,8908,197107,69315,662 89,8406,87182,96918,834 205,73015,068190,66234,496
 October112,3978,873103,52412,365 86,8506,80880,0429,799 199,24715,681183,56622,164
 November110,83610,721100,11512,281 85,4258,18177,2449,607 196,26118,902177,35921,888
 December112,4147,850104,5646,271 87,2556,97780,2785,148 199,66914,827184,84211,419
 
2019January113,15411,135102,01910,393 86,4738,59377,8809,377 199,62719,728179,89919,770
 February111,3178,486102,83110,324 85,6176,92078,6977,775 196,93415,406181,52818,099
 March109,1307,525101,6059,711 83,2775,41277,8657,753 192,40712,937179,47017,464
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 3 (XLS 72KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions¹March 2018February 2019March 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
      Northern and Western25,97322,31121,882-429-4,0912,33019,552
      Border13,44911,54711,314-233-2,1351,30710,007
      West12,52410,76410,568-196-1,9561,0239,545
 
      Southern 45,44337,84136,782-1,059-8,6614,10332,679
      Mid-West14,02211,66311,394-269-2,6281,35810,036
      South-East14,87712,63812,420-218-2,4571,50610,914
      South-West16,54413,54012,968-572-3,5761,23911,729
 
     Eastern and Midland61,10151,04550,384-661-10,7175,58144,803
      Dublin33,69928,35728,116-241-5,5832,95325,163
      Mid-East17,03514,26714,058-209-2,9771,58812,470
      Midland10,3678,4218,210-211-2,1571,0407,170
      Total132,581111,317109,130-2,187-23,45112,03097,100
 
Females
      Northern and Western20,65218,02117,492-529-3,1601,73015,762
      Border10,7279,1838,963-220-1,7649657,998
      West9,9258,8388,529-309-1,3967657,764
 
      Southern 34,36729,23828,123-1,115-6,2442,88825,235
      Mid-West10,2718,5588,296-262-1,9759497,347
      South-East11,2019,9099,611-298-1,5901,0788,533
      South-West12,89510,77110,216-555-2,6798619,355
 
     Eastern and Midland44,71638,22537,578-647-7,1383,78133,797
      Dublin22,66819,56919,160-409-3,5081,79817,362
      Mid-East13,80311,70111,584-117-2,2191,10810,476
      Midland8,2456,9556,834-121-1,4118755,959
      Total99,78585,61783,277-2,340-16,5088,42074,857
 
All Persons
      Northern and Western46,62540,33239,374-958-7,2514,06035,314
      Border24,17620,73020,277-453-3,8992,27218,005
      West22,44919,60219,097-505-3,3521,78817,309
 
      Southern 79,81067,07964,905-2,174-14,9056,99157,914
      Mid-West24,29320,22119,690-531-4,6032,30717,383
      South-East26,07822,54722,031-516-4,0472,58419,447
      South-West29,43924,31123,184-1,127-6,2552,10021,084
 
     Eastern and Midland105,81789,27087,962-1,308-17,8559,36278,600
      Dublin56,36747,92647,276-650-9,0914,75142,525
      Mid-East30,83825,96825,642-326-5,1962,69622,946
      Midland18,61215,37615,044-332-3,5681,91513,129
      Total2232,366196,934192,407-4,527-39,95920,450171,957
¹ The composition of the regions is described in the Background Notes
2 From January 2018, registrations which have yet not being assigned to a DEASP local office of registration are included in the Live Register Totals. These registrations are not included in individual NUTS3/ NUTS2 totals in this table
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 4 (XLS 47KB)
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Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
Broad occupational groupMarch 2018February 2019March 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
Managers and administrators6,3265,6915,598-93-7281045,494
Professional6,0295,0574,909-148-1,1202084,701
Associate professional and technical 4,0153,6633,600-63-4152343,366
Clerical and secretarial6,7385,6795,503-176-1,2355174,986
Craft and related 34,93028,26227,760-502-7,1702,10825,652
Personal and protective service10,1528,9758,668-307-1,4848537,815
Sales8,7017,2727,164-108-1,5371,5675,597
Plant and machine operatives26,38321,90821,401-507-4,9822,30119,100
Other occupation20,98617,64217,401-241-3,5852,17015,231
No occupation¹8,3217,1687,126-42-1,1951,9685,158
Total 132,581111,317109,130-2,187-23,45112,03097,100
 
Females
Managers and administrators5,0464,5714,514-57-532914,423
Professional7,7316,5346,239-295-1,4921876,052
Associate professional and technical 3,2383,1223,000-122-2381372,863
Clerical and secretarial19,33215,87015,117-753-4,21555814,559
Craft and related 5,7955,2985,206-92-5896134,593
Personal and protective service20,76417,82417,170-654-3,5941,77015,400
Sales15,16712,87312,660-213-2,5071,89110,769
Plant and machine operatives9,8048,2628,209-53-1,5958847,325
Other occupation7,3056,3706,289-81-1,0161,0225,267
No occupation¹5,6034,8934,873-20-7301,2673,606
Total99,78585,61783,277-2,340-16,5088,42074,857
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators11,37210,26210,112-150-1,2601959,917
Professional13,76011,59111,148-443-2,61239510,753
Associate professional and technical 7,2536,7856,600-185-6533716,229
Clerical and secretarial26,07021,54920,620-929-5,4501,07519,545
Craft and related 40,72533,56032,966-594-7,7592,72130,245
Personal and protective service30,91626,79925,838-961-5,0782,62323,215
Sales23,86820,14519,824-321-4,0443,45816,366
Plant and machine operatives36,18730,17029,610-560-6,5773,18526,425
Other occupation28,29124,01223,690-322-4,6013,19220,498
No occupation¹13,92412,06111,999-62-1,9253,2358,764
Total 232,366196,934192,407-4,527-39,95920,450171,957
¹ Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 5 (XLS 46KB)
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Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
DurationMarch 2018February 2019March 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
   Less than one year75,67665,39764,113-1,284-11,5639,08155,032
   One year or more56,90545,92045,017-903-11,8882,94942,068
   Total132,581111,317109,130-2,187-23,45112,03097,100
 
Females
   Less than one year61,95754,12452,187-1,937-9,7706,56545,622
   One year or more37,82831,49331,090-403-6,7381,85529,235
   Total99,78585,61783,277-2,340-16,5088,42074,857
 
All Persons
   Less than one year137,633119,521116,300-3,221-21,33315,646100,654
   One year or more94,73377,41376,107-1,306-18,6264,80471,303
   Total232,366196,934192,407-4,527-39,95920,450171,957
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 6 (XLS 36KB)
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Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
  MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
2017March30,641-420 28,619-216 59,260-636
 April29,949-692 28,147-472 58,096-1,164
 May29,417-532 27,549-598 56,966-1,130
 June29,092-325 27,245-304 56,337-629
 July28,426-666 26,821-424 55,247-1,090
 August27,552-874 26,091-730 53,643-1,604
 September26,671-881 25,321-770 51,992-1,651
 October26,225-446 25,065-256 51,290-702
 November26,190-35 25,154+89 51,344+54
 December26,120-70 25,039-115 51,159-185
 
2018January25,555-565 24,676-363 50,231-928
 February25,459-96 24,858+182 50,317+86
 March24,909-550 24,557-301 49,466-851
 April24,188-721 23,939-618 48,127-1,339
 May23,493-695 23,424-515 46,917-1,210
 June22,872-621 23,116-308 45,988-929
 July22,290-582 22,855-261 45,145-843
 August21,492-798 22,102-753 43,594-1,551
 September20,719-773 21,405-697 42,124-1,470
 October20,309-410 21,344-61 41,653-471
 November20,286-23 21,473+129 41,759+106
 December20,348+62 21,403-70 41,751-08
 
2019January20,079-269 21,161-242 41,240-511
 February20,090+11 21,174+13 41,264+24
 March19,803-287 20,956-218 40,759-505
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 7 (XLS 42KB)
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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
2017March10,2293,06526,4877,197 46,978220,224267,202
 April10,0542,92325,7937,140 45,910217,507263,417
 May10,0552,88925,1847,447 45,575217,127262,702
 June10,2592,94124,9217,899 46,020222,706268,726
 July10,3342,99224,7427,971 46,039228,346274,385
 August10,0492,95023,8587,822 44,679219,577264,256
 September9,3332,75922,6167,222 41,930202,389244,319
 October9,1002,73022,2626,850 40,942195,550236,492
 November9,0002,85822,3276,685 40,870192,339233,209
 December9,1182,85622,6796,671 41,324194,944236,268
 
2018January9,2202,98723,3096,693 42,209195,177237,386
 February9,1242,93023,1676,787 42,008193,336235,344
 March9,0072,78222,7066,761 41,256191,110232,366
 April8,6952,64621,8346,699 39,874183,728223,602
 May8,7552,64721,3707,024 39,796183,706223,502
 June8,8262,63021,1027,335 39,893188,172228,065
 July8,9462,61021,0287,312 39,896194,549234,445
 August8,6452,60020,1937,149 38,587186,571225,158
 September7,9652,42618,9106,504 35,805169,925205,730
 October7,7962,42818,6016,107 34,932164,315199,247
 November7,7872,50518,6325,983 34,907161,354196,261
 December7,9042,49719,2116,003 35,615164,054199,669
 
2019January7,8692,58819,4506,020 35,927163,700199,627
 February7,7652,59519,2385,948 35,546161,388196,934
 March7,5572,43818,8735,948 34,816157,591192,407
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 Table 8 (XLS 44KB)
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Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes
 February 2018January 2019February 2019
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand9,1886,4116,075
Short-term Enterprise Allowance1 344291286
Total Back to Work payments 9,5326,7026,361
 
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive414285287
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 6,3476,4456,373
Gateway (2013)23800
Total Other Activation Programmes6,7996,7306,660
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)21,71721,37121,388
 
FAS (Solas) Full Time Training for Unemployed People35,8235,4765,545
     
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)43,3093,0453,019
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)510,7049,0378,665
Total Back to Education Courses 14,01312,08211,684
     
Total Activation Programmes57,88452,36151,638
1 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.
2Gateway Scheme closed in December 2018.
3Data from January 2018 is now available from the SOLAS computer system (PLSS).
4Data from January 2018 is now available from the SOLAS computer system (PLSS). VTOS figures were estimated at 5,000 per month to December 2017.
5 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.
Open in Excel: Live Register March 2019 - Annex (XLS 37KB)
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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 Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP).  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 DEASP 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 has been produced using claimant microdata from the DEASP 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 are summarised and cross-tabulated to produce the counts published in the Live Register release.

As claimant count microdata was retrospectively available to January 2012, previously published Live Register data for this period were revised with data produced from the claimant microdata. These revisions were 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 2019 –  3rd to 30th March 2019

March 2018 – 25th February to 31st March 2018

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 Labour Force Survey (formerly the Quarterly National Household 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.

Labour Force Survey 

The Labour Force Survey (LFS), was launched in January 2018 with the publication of Quarter 3 2017 data (Q3 2017). The Labour Force survey replaced the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS).

The LFS provides quarterly estimates of the unemployment rate.

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 DEASP 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 DEASP 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. 

From January 2018, registrations which have yet not being assigned to a DEASP local office of registration are included in the Live Register totals. Therefore as these registrations are not included in the regional breakdowns, the sum of these regions may not add to the Live Register totals.

The latest available Live Register data by Province, County and Local Office of Registration are published on the CSO website, through the CSO StatBank, on the publication of this release, see link here.

 

NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions

The regional classifications in this release is based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) classification used by Eurostat. Until Q4 2017, the NUTS3 regions corresponded 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 while the NUTS2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed by Eurostat in 1999, were groupings of those historic NUTS3 regions.

However, the NUTS3 boundaries were amended on 21st of November 2016 under Regulation (EC) No. 2066/2016 and have come into force from Q1 2018. These new groupings are reflected in the LFS results from Q1 2018 onwards. The changes resulting from the amendment are that County Louth has moved from the Border to the Mid-East and what was formerly South Tipperary has moved from the South-East to the Mid-West, resulting in the new NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions:

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

 

Occupations

Live Register occupational data is sourced from information collected by the DEASP 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, to see these please 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 DEASP. 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 DEASP 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 DEASP 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/liveregistermarch2019/

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

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

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