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Number on live register falls in December despite rise in unemployment

There were 173,900 people on the live register last month, a decrease of 500 people or 0.3% compared to November figures

On an unadjusted basis, there were 173,003 claimants on the live register in December 2023, a decrease of 11,639 compared to a year previously. Photograph: Peter Muhly

Ellen O’Regan
Thu Jan 11 2024 - 12:35

The number of people on the seasonally adjusted live register fell to 173,900 last month, a decrease of 500 or 0.3 per cent compared with November figures.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that on an unadjusted basis there were 173,003 claimants on the register in December 2023, a fall of 11,639 compared to a year previously.

The decline in numbers on the register, which measures those claiming unemployment benefits, comes despite a rise in headline unemployment. Figures from the CSO on Wednesday noted that the State’s unemployment rate rose to 4.9 per cent in the last month of 2023, up from 4.8 per cent in November and a low of 4.1 per cent earlier in the year.

While the live register broadly tracks the labour market, it is not a measure of unemployment as people with part-time or casual work can still be entitled to benefits.

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Of the 173,003 people on the unadjusted live register last month, 54.7 per cent were male and 68.8 per cent were Irish. The 35-44 age group made up the largest share of claimants, at 40,984 people or 23.7 per cent.

The counties that saw the largest decrease in the number of people on the live register in the year to December were Cavan (-15.7 per cent), Kilkenny (-15.1 per cent) and Kerry (-11.6 per cent).

Meanwhile, three counties saw an increase in the number of claimants: Meath (+5.6 per cent), Laois (+1.1 per cent) and Leitrim (+1.0 per cent).

Last month there were 110,708 people who had been on the live register for less than a year, a decrease of 12,268 since December 2022.

Over the same 12-month period the number of people on the live register for a year or more increased slightly, by 629, to 62,295.

In terms of casual and part-time workers who claimed benefits in December, 25,741 were on the live register last month, an increase of 313 people compared to November.

Some 22,369 people benefiting from the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive, including people from Ukraine, for example, were included in the live register figures for December 2023. Just under two-thirds of those benefiting from TPD last month were female, and more than 90 per cent were over 25 years old.

Ellen O'Regan

Ellen O’Regan

Ellen O’Regan is an Irish Times journalist.

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