The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for January stood at 165,400 people, down by 600 people or 0.4% from the previous month, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

The Live Register is used to provide a monthly series of the numbers of people registering for Jobseekers Benefit or Jobseekers Allowance or for other statutory entitlements at local offices of the Department of Social Protection.

However, it is not designed to measure unemployment as it includes part-time workers as well as seasonal and casual workers. The CSO said the unadjusted Live Register total stood at 165,235 people for January, of which 56% were men.

It noted that the 25-34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in January - at 38,858 people or 23.5% of the total.

Kildare was the only county that recorded an increase in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to January 2025, after the county experienced a rise of 1.8%.

Recent figures from the CSO showed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4% last month from a revised rate of 4.5% in December.

Unemployment had been recorded at 4.2% in December prior to the revision, which was made to incorporate the most recent Labour Force Survey data for Q4 2024.

There were 116,200 people in unemployment in January, down 12,400 from 128,600 in December and 10,200 from 126,400 in January 2024 when the unemployment rate was also 4.5%.

(Pic: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie)