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International comparison:
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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

May 2019

 Live Register TotalSeasonally Adjusted
May 2018223,502224,300
April 2019193,118194,400
May 2019189,867190,900
   
Change in month-- 3,500
Change in year- 33,635-

Seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreases by 3,500 in May

Live Register Seasonally Adjusted
go to full release

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 3,500 (-1.8%) in May 2019, bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 190,900. The number of persons on the Live Register in May 2019 is the lowest number recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since February 2008. See table 2(a).

In unadjusted terms there were 189,867 persons signing on the Live Register in May 2019. This represents an annual decrease of 33,635 (-15.0%). See table 1(a).

 

Other features include:

  • On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 1,700 (-1.6%) for males in May 2019, while females decreased by 2,000 (2.3%) over the same period. See table 2(a).
  • On an unadjusted basis, the number of male claimants decreased by 20,681 (-16.2%) to 107,018 in the year to May 2019, while female claimants decreased by 12,954 (-13.5%) to 82,849. This compares with a decrease of 24,761 (-16.2%) to 127,699 for males, while female claimants decreased by 14,439 (-13.1%) to 95,803 in the year to May 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
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
April 201911817874940
May 201911362976238

Live Register duration of continuous registration

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register in May 2019 was 76,238. The number of male long term claimants decreased by 11,546 (-20.4%) in the year to May 2019, while females decreased by 6,913 (-18.1%), giving an overall annual decrease of 18,459 (-19.5%) in the number of long term claimants. See table 6 and figure 2.

In May 2019, 59.8% (113,629) of all claimants on the Live Register were short term claimants.  The comparable figure for May 2018 was 57.6% (128,805). The annual fall of 15,176 (-11.8%) in the number of short term claimants consisted of a decrease of 9,135 (-12.8%) in the number of male short term claimants and a decrease of 6,041 (-10.5%) in female short term claimants. See table 6.

Live Register casual and part-time workers

There were 38,396 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register in May 2019, which represents 20.2% of the total Live Register.  This compares with 21.0% one year earlier when there were 46,917 casual and part-time workers on the Live Register.  In the year to May 2019 the number of casual and part-time workers decreased by 8,521 (-18.2%), with the number of males decreasing by 4,991 (-21.2%) and the number of females decreasing by 3,530 (-15.1%). See table 7.

Under 25 years25 years and over
May 201730253232449
May 201824635198867
May 201920347169520

Live Register age groups

In the year to May 2019 the number of persons aged 25 and over on the Live Register decreased by 29,347 (-14.8%), and the number of persons aged under 25 decreased by 4,288 (-17.4%).  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 10.7% for May 2019, down from 11.0% in May 2018 and 11.5% in May 2017. See tables 1(b) and 1(c) and figure 3.

Live Register new registrants

There were 20,421 new registrants on the Live Register in May 2019, consisting of 12,621 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) applications, 7,353 Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) claims, and 447 “Other Registrants”. Males accounted for 55.6% (11,362) and females accounted for 44.4% (9,059) of all new registrants. JA applications represented 61.8% of all new registrations, while JB claims and “Other Registrants” represented 36.0% and 2.2% respectively.  See table 3.

Live Register last occupation held

Craft and related (16.8%) remained the largest occupational group1 on the Live Register in May 2019. The number in the group fell over the year by 6,884 to 31,853.  Craft and related also had the largest annual percentage decrease (-17.8%).  Plant and Machine Operatives was the second largest annual percentage decrease (-17.0%). See table 5 and figure 4.

The two smallest occupational groups in May 2019 were the Associate Professional and Technical and the Managers and Administrators groups which accounted for 3.6% and 5.2% of the Live Register respectively. See table 5 and figure 4.

Broad Occupational GroupMay 2017May 2018May 2019
112299111339943
2151001321211779
3839574596783
4269612368520610
5474683873731853
6337912909824570
7288722362919740
8416993482628890
9316422768123503
10164751404212196
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 28,505 (-17.6%) brought the total number of JA claimants to 133,587 in May 2019, while JB claimants decreased to 33,224 (-5.2%) over the same period.  As a result, JA claimants account for 70.4% of all persons on the Live Register in May 2019 compared with 72.5% 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 (-19.8%) followed by the Midland region (-16.0%). See table 4.
  • In May, Irish nationals accounted for 82.1% (155,811) of the number of persons on the Live Register. Of the 34,056 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group on the Live Register was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 States (18,027), followed by the UK (7,404). See table 8.

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 April 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 Table A1 – Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes table.

There were 51,083 people availing of these programmes in April 2019, which is a decrease of 6,362 persons (-11.1%) from the previous year, when there were 57,445 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 2018April 2019May 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims16,97217,02215,951-1,071-1,021
    JA Applications102,10683,24883,725+477-18,381
    Other Registrants8,6217,4957,342-153-1,279
    Total127,699107,765107,018-747-20,681
 
Females
    JB Claims18,07519,99717,273-2,724-802
    JA Applications59,98649,28349,862+579-10,124
    Other Registrants17,74216,07315,714-359-2,028
    Total95,80385,35382,849-2,504-12,954
 
All Persons
    JB Claims35,04737,01933,224-3,795-1,823
    JA Applications162,092132,531133,587+1,056-28,505
    Other Registrants26,36323,56823,056-512-3,307
    Total223,502193,118189,867-3,251-33,635
Table 1(b) Persons under 25 years of age on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2018April 2019May 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims1,1291,1551,166+11+37
    JA Applications13,28910,46610,667+201-2,622
    Other Registrants715758+1-13
    Total14,48911,67811,891+213-2,598
 
Females
    JB Claims9111,0911,015-76+104
    JA Applications9,1727,1317,390+259-1,782
    Other Registrants634951+2-12
    Total10,1468,2718,456+185-1,690
 
All Persons
    JB Claims2,0402,2462,181-65+141
    JA Applications22,46117,59718,057+460-4,404
    Other Registrants134106109+3-25
    Total24,63519,94920,347+398-4,288
Table 1(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register
CategoryMay 2018April 2019May 2019Monthly changeAnnual change
Males
    JB Claims15,84315,86714,785-1,082-1,058
    JA Applications88,81772,78273,058+276-15,759
    Other Registrants8,5507,4387,284-154-1,266
    Total113,21096,08795,127-960-18,083
 
Females
    JB Claims17,16418,90616,258-2,648-906
    JA Applications50,81442,15242,472+320-8,342
    Other Registrants17,67916,02415,663-361-2,016
    Total85,65777,08274,393-2,689-11,264
 
All Persons
    JB Claims33,00734,77331,043-3,730-1,964
    JA Applications139,631114,934115,530+596-24,101
    Other Registrants26,22923,46222,947-515-3,282
    Total198,867173,169169,520-3,649-29,347
Table 2(a) Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
 Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2017May152,460110,242262,702151,300112,200263,500
 June152,665116,061268,726149,100110,700259,800
 July151,513122,872274,385147,100109,500256,500
 August148,265115,991264,256144,800106,900251,700
 September140,120104,199244,319142,900107,000249,900
 October135,968100,524236,492141,200105,900247,100
 November133,95999,250233,209139,200105,000244,100
 December135,329100,939236,268137,100103,800240,800
 
2018January136,735100,651237,386135,400102,800238,200
 February135,333100,011235,344133,800101,700235,400
 March132,58199,785232,366131,500100,600232,100
 April128,34995,253223,602129,10099,100228,200
 May127,69995,803223,502126,70097,700224,300
 June126,981101,084228,065124,10096,100220,200
 July126,252108,193234,445122,60095,200217,800
 August123,354101,804225,158120,60093,500214,100
 September115,89089,840205,730118,40092,800211,200
 October112,39786,850199,247116,90092,000208,900
 November110,83685,425196,261115,20090,800206,000
 December112,41487,255199,669113,80089,800203,600
 
2019January113,15486,473199,627112,00088,400200,400
 February111,31785,617196,934110,00087,200197,200
 March109,13083,277192,407108,70086,300195,000
 April107,76585,353193,118107,80086,700194,400
 May107,01882,849189,867 106,10084,700190,900
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
2017May17,59612,65730,25317,40012,70030,100
 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
 November14,61510,33624,95115,80011,50027,300
 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
 September13,2759,39522,67013,2009,40022,600
 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
 March12,0308,42020,45012,0008,70020,800
 April11,6788,27119,94911,9008,60020,500
 May11,8918,45620,347 11,7008,50020,200
¹ Table contains revised figures
Table 2(c) Persons 25 years of age and over on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
  Unadjusted SeriesSeasonally Adjusted Series¹
 MonthMalesFemalesAll Persons MalesFemalesAll Persons
2017May134,86497,585232,449 133,90099,500233,400
 June134,642102,352236,994 132,00098,200230,200
 July133,564108,584242,148 130,30097,100227,400
 August130,395102,178232,573 128,20094,900223,200
 September123,68492,164215,848 126,50095,100221,600
 October120,56489,495210,059 125,10094,100219,200
 November119,34488,914208,258 123,40093,500216,900
 December120,81890,775211,593 121,60092,500214,100
 
2018January121,58690,176211,762 120,10091,800211,900
 February120,19089,507209,697 118,70090,900209,600
 March117,77589,553207,328 116,70090,100206,800
 April114,01285,469199,481 114,50088,700203,300
 May113,21085,657198,867 112,40087,500199,900
 June112,32390,294202,617 110,20086,200196,400
 July111,63396,824208,457 108,90085,400194,300
 August108,77190,754199,525 107,10083,900190,900
 September102,61580,445183,060 105,10083,500188,600
 October100,00578,187178,192 103,80082,800186,600
 November99,00477,245176,249 102,40081,700184,100
 December100,61679,132179,748 101,20080,700181,900
 
2019January100,84677,904178,750 99,50079,500179,000
 February99,07376,993176,066 97,80078,400176,200
 March97,10074,857171,957 96,60077,600174,200
 April96,08777,082173,169 95,90078,100174,000
 May95,12774,393169,520 94,40076,300170,700
¹ Table contains revised figures
Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register¹
  Males Females All Claimants
  Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register Live RegisterJoined Live RegisterStayed on Live RegisterLeft Live Register
JB Claims
2018May16,9723,59113,3813,771 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
 April17,0223,62313,3993,074 19,9975,55714,4402,791 37,0199,18027,8395,865
 May15,9513,75012,2014,305 17,2733,60313,6705,856 33,2247,35325,87110,161
JA Applications
2018April101,8874,70597,1828,073 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
 April83,2484,10979,1395,930 49,2832,99046,2933,700 132,5317,099125,4329,630
 May83,7257,47376,2527,447 49,8625,14844,7144,907 133,58712,621120,96612,354
Other Registrants
2018April8,7811578,624326 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
 April7,4951627,333253 16,07348015,593462 23,56864222,926715
 May7,3421397,203354 15,71430815,406803 23,05644722,6091,157
All Schemes
2018April128,3498,090120,25912,323 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
 April107,7657,89499,8719,257 85,3539,02776,3266,953 193,11816,921176,19716,210
 May107,01811,36295,65612,106 82,8499,05973,79011,566 189,86720,421169,44623,672
Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by region
NUTS2 and NUTS3 Regions¹May 2018April 2019May 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
      Northern and Western25,02421,54021,361-179-3,6632,28819,073
      Border13,05011,13911,160+21-1,8901,3069,854
      West11,97410,40110,201-200-1,7739829,219
 
      Southern 43,19936,20235,683-519-7,5164,02131,662
      Mid-West13,34211,29811,163-135-2,1791,3589,805
      South-East14,31812,32312,340+17-1,9781,53410,806
      South-West15,53912,58112,180-401-3,3591,12911,051
 
     Eastern and Midland59,39149,88549,880-05-9,5115,56044,320
      Dublin33,04727,78528,011+226-5,0362,94925,062
      Mid-East16,61313,98413,832-152-2,7811,60512,227
      Midland9,7318,1168,037-79-1,6941,0067,031
      Total127,699107,765107,018-747-20,68111,89195,127
 
Females
      Northern and Western19,86517,82017,317-503-2,5481,67015,647
      Border10,3299,1638,926-237-1,4039677,959
      West9,5368,6578,391-266-1,1457037,688
 
      Southern 32,47428,86827,700-1,168-4,7742,91624,784
      Mid-West9,7598,4938,265-228-1,4941,0077,258
      South-East10,8809,7999,649-150-1,2311,0838,566
      South-West11,83510,5769,786-790-2,0498268,960
 
     Eastern and Midland43,37838,53837,737-801-5,6413,83833,899
      Dublin22,08519,33719,267-70-2,8181,75717,510
      Mid-East13,36512,12511,675-450-1,6901,15710,518
      Midland7,9287,0766,795-281-1,1339245,871
      Total95,80385,35382,849-2,504-12,9548,45674,393
 
All Persons
      Northern and Western44,88939,36038,678-682-6,2113,95834,720
      Border23,37920,30220,086-216-3,2932,27317,813
      West21,51019,05818,592-466-2,9181,68516,907
 
      Southern 75,67365,07063,383-1,687-12,2906,93756,446
      Mid-West23,10119,79119,428-363-3,6732,36517,063
      South-East25,19822,12221,989-133-3,2092,61719,372
      South-West27,37423,15721,966-1,191-5,4081,95520,011
 
     Eastern and Midland102,76988,42387,617-806-15,1529,39878,219
      Dublin55,13247,12247,278+156-7,8544,70642,572
      Mid-East29,97826,10925,507-602-4,4712,76222,745
      Midland17,65915,19214,832-360-2,8271,93012,902
      Total2223,502193,118189,867-3,251-33,63520,347169,520
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
Table 5 Persons on the Live Register classified by last held occupation
Broad occupational groupMay 2018April 2019May 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
Managers and administrators6,2025,5325,490-42-7121225,368
Professional5,8975,0045,124+120-7732564,868
Associate professional and technical 4,1223,5403,698+158-4242753,423
Clerical and secretarial6,2895,9125,441-471-8484984,943
Craft and related 33,04527,11726,752-365-6,2932,00024,752
Personal and protective service9,5958,3728,163-209-1,4327957,368
Sales8,7196,9707,154+184-1,5651,5715,583
Plant and machine operatives25,13721,09320,800-293-4,3372,31818,482
Other occupation20,36817,22017,218-2-3,1502,10315,115
No occupation¹8,3257,0057,178+173-1,1471,9535,225
Total 127,699107,765107,018-747-20,68111,89195,127
 
Females
Managers and administrators4,9314,4204,453+33-478724,381
Professional7,3157,0276,655-372-6602166,439
Associate professional and technical 3,3372,9523,085+133-2521532,932
Clerical and secretarial17,39617,34615,169-2,177-2,22758814,581
Craft and related 5,6925,1035,101-2-5915864,515
Personal and protective service19,50316,99116,407-584-3,0961,71714,690
Sales14,91012,38912,586+197-2,3241,89310,693
Plant and machine operatives9,6898,0808,090+10-1,5998707,220
Other occupation7,3136,2116,285+74-1,0281,0135,272
No occupation¹5,7174,8345,018+184-6991,3483,670
Total95,80385,35382,849-2,504-12,9548,45674,393
 
All Persons
Managers and administrators11,1339,9529,943-9-1,1901949,749
Professional13,21212,03111,779-252-1,43347211,307
Associate professional and technical 7,4596,4926,783+291-6764286,355
Clerical and secretarial23,68523,25820,610-2,648-3,0751,08619,524
Craft and related 38,73732,22031,853-367-6,8842,58629,267
Personal and protective service29,09825,36324,570-793-4,5282,51222,058
Sales23,62919,35919,740+381-3,8893,46416,276
Plant and machine operatives34,82629,17328,890-283-5,9363,18825,702
Other occupation27,68123,43123,503+72-4,1783,11620,387
No occupation¹14,04211,83912,196+357-1,8463,3018,895
Total 223,502193,118189,867-3,251-33,63520,347169,520
¹ Includes those who never worked and those who have no stated occupation
Table 6 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
DurationMay 2018April 2019May 2019Monthly changeAnnual changeUnder 25 years25 years & over
Males
   Less than one year71,15863,44162,023-1,418-9,1358,79953,224
   One year or more56,54144,32444,995+671-11,5463,09241,903
   Total127,699107,765107,018-747-20,68111,89195,127
 
Females
   Less than one year57,64754,73751,606-3,131-6,0416,48145,125
   One year or more38,15630,61631,243+627-6,9131,97529,268
   Total95,80385,35382,849-2,504-12,9548,45674,393
 
All Persons
   Less than one year128,805118,178113,629-4,549-15,17615,28098,349
   One year or more94,69774,94076,238+1,298-18,4595,06771,171
   Total223,502193,118189,867-3,251-33,63520,347169,520
Table 7 Casual and part-time workers on the Live Register
  MalesMonthly change FemalesMonthly change All PersonsMonthly change
2017May29,417-532 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 41,751-8
 
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
 April19,280-523 20,403-553 39,683-1,076
 May18,502-778 19,894-509 38,396-1,287
     
     
     
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
2017May10,0552,88925,1847,447 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
 April7,4722,43618,4815,953 34,342158,776193,118
 May7,4042,39318,0276,232 34,056155,811189,867
Annex Table A1 - Number of persons availing of Activation Programmes
 April 2018March 2019April 2019
Back to Work Schemes    
Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand8,5255,7645,532
Short-term Enterprise Allowance1 345310318
Total Back to Work payments 8,8706,0745,850
 
Other Activation Programmes    
DSP Part-time Job Incentive409272263
TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) 6,3006,3036,306
Gateway (2013)2800
Total Other Activation Programmes6,7176,5756,569
     
Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors)21,76621,47921,537
 
FAS (Solas) Full Time Training for Unemployed People36,3025,6415,653
     
Back to Education Courses    
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)43,2382,9472,904
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)510,5528,6338,570
Total Back to Education Courses 13,79011,58011,474
     
Total Activation Programmes57,44551,34951,083
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.

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:

May 2019 –  28th April to 1st June 2019

May 2018 –  29th April to 2nd June 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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