Number of Pandemic Unemployment Payment claimants falls to 101,000

The number of people claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) is expected to drop below the 100,000 mark next week, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has said.

She also said there had been a substantial fall in the number of young people out of work due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Department of Social Protection said on Wednesday that there were 101,470 people in receipt of the PUP this week, a decrease of 4,775 on the previous week.

The accommodation and food services sector saw the greatest reduction in the number of people claiming the payment.

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The PUP was paid at a weekly rate of €350 initially but was reduced last month and will be tapered to align it with the standard jobseekers’ payments by February. The number in receipt of the PUP is in addition to the 179,761 people who were on the live register at the end of August.

Younger people

Ms Humphreys said that since the outset of the pandemic, there had been considerable concern about the impact the loss of employment would have on young people.

“In May, one in four people out of work as a result of Covid-19 were aged under 25,” she said. “Today, that number has now fallen to one in 10 - demonstrating the huge progress we have made in terms of reopening our economy and getting people back to work.”

The Minister said that overall the number of people receiving the PUP was at its lowest level since it was introduced after the pandemic hit Ireland in March of last year.

“And next week, I expect the number of people claiming the pandemic unemployment payment to fall to below 100,000 for the first time.”

At its peak in late April and early May of last year there were about 600,000 people receiving the payment.

The department said the number of people receiving the Covid-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit had also decreased from 2,012 last week to 1,843 this week.