The number of people on the live register in April was more than 8,000 higher compared with the previous month, a more than 5 per cent increase.
The latest data from the Central Statistics Office shows there were 167,960 people on the register in April, an increase of 8,094 on the 159,866 recorded in March. The seasonally adjusted total was 170,500 people, up by 7,400 people or 4.5 per cent from last month.
The live register tracks labour market trends by counting the number of people currently registered for jobseekers benefits with the Department of Social Protection. It is an imperfect measure of unemployment as people with part-time or casual work may still be entitled to benefits.
Of these 54.4 per cent were male and 72.1 per cent were Irish. Nearly a quarter, 23.3 per cent, of those on the register last month were aged between 25-34 years, making that the single largest cohort at 39,138 people.
Last month’s figure is down by 1,537 from 169,497 in April last year.
“There were 12,439 people benefiting from the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for April 2025, a decrease of 337 people from March 2025,” noted Central Statistics Office (CSO) labour statistician Conor Delves.
“The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more in April 2025 was 55,432, which was 5,658 fewer people (-9.3 per cent) than a year earlier,” he explained. The number of people on the live register for less than one year stood at 112,528 people, two-thirds of the total.
Broken down by the duration people have spent on the live register, the most common duration was less than three months at 67,468, followed by those on the register for three years or more at 25,945.
The counties with the largest increases in people on the in the 12 months to April 2025 were Kildare, up 5.1 per cent, and Dublin, up 3.3 per cent. In Dublin, 44,649 people are currently on the live register, the second highest number was in Cork at 13,849.
The largest drops in people on the register were in Kerry at -15.3 per cent and Clare at -12.6 per cent. The county with the fewest people on the register was Leitrim at 1,540.
