Number claiming State benefits falls to 11-year low, figures show

The number of unemployment benefit claimants on the Live Register fell to a new 11-year low last month, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show.

While the register is not a measure of unemployment, as people with part-time work can be entitled to benefits, it reflects conditions in the labour market in general and has fallen in tandem with the official unemployment measure.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1.8 per cent, or 3,500 individuals in May, bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 190,900.

The number of persons on the Live Register in May was the lowest recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since February 2008. In unadjusted terms there were 189,867 persons signing on the register in May, an annual decrease of 15 per cent, or 33,635 individuals.

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On a seasonally adjusted basis the register showed a monthly decrease of 1.6 per cent for men, or about 1,700 people, and 2.3 per cent for women, or about 2,000 people over the same period.

The number of long-term claimants was 76,238; male claimants decreased by 11,546 (-20.4 per cent) in the year to May 2019, women decreased by 6,913 (-18.1 per cent). That represented an overall annual decrease of 18,459 (-19.5 per cent) in the number of long-term claimants.

There were 20,421 new registrants on the register in May 2019, consisting of 12,621 jobseeker’s allowance applications, 7,353 jobseeker’s benefit claims, and 447 other registrants.

Men accounted for 55.6 per cent (11,362) and women for 44.4 per cent (9,059) of all new registrants.

Jobseeker’s allowance applications represented 61.8 per cent of all new registrations, while jobseeker’s benefit claims and other registrants represented 36 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.