Live Register falls to new 10-year low as employment grows

Latest monthly figures show number of claimants fell 4,800 to 219,300 in June

On a seasonally-adjusted basis the latest Live Register shows a monthly decrease of 3,100 men and 1,700 women in June.

The ongoing pick-up in employment is reflected in the latest Live Register, which fell to a 10-year low in June.

The number of benefit claimants on the register decreased by 4,800 or 2.1 per cent last month, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 219,300.

This was the lowest number recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since June, 2008. It also represents an annual decrease of 40,661 or 15.1 per cent.

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 and has fallen almost continually since 2012.

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Separate figures from the Central Statistics Office, published earlier this week, show the State's official jobless rate fell to a post-crash low of 5.1 per cent in June.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis the latest Live Register shows a monthly decrease of 3,100 men and 1,700 women in June. The number of long-term unemployed people on the register at the end of June was 94,778, which equated to an annual decreased of nearly 18 per cent.

There were 45,988 casual and part-time workers on the register, down 20 per cent on annual basis. The percentage of under-25s on the register now stands at 11.2 per cent, down from 11.8 per cent in June last year and 12.5 per cent in June 2016.

A breakdown of the figures shows craft workers remained the largest occupational group on the register, accounting for nearly 17 per cent, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 8,829 to 38,024.

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Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times