The seasonally adjusted total of people on the Live Register was 184,700 in January, down 700 or 0.4% from December, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said.

Unadjusted, the total stood at 184,736, of which 53.7% were male and 69.8% were Irish nationals.

Of the total, 130,042 were on Jobseeker's Allowance, up 19.7% or 21,362 year-on-year, and 38,537 were on Jobseeker's Benefit, an increase of 4.7% or 1,711 from January 2022. Other registrants totalled 16,157, down 5.4% or 903.

The 35-44 age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register last month at 43,867 or 23.7%, ahead of the 25-34 group (41,766 or 22.6%), and 45-54 (37,708 or 20.4%).

All counties saw an increases in the number of persons on the Live Register in the past 12 months, bu the greatest increases were in Kerry (+41.7%) and Leitrim (+36.8%). The lowest were in Kildare (+1.6%) and Tipperary (+2.6%).

In Association with

The number of people on the Live Register for more than one year was 61,003, down 11,644 from a year earlier. The remaining 123,733 (67%) have been on for register for less than a year.

Morgan O'Donnell, statistician in the labour market analysis section at the CSO, noted that 22,877 Ukrainian refugees availing of the EU's Temporary Protection Directive were included in the figures, up 1,094 from December. The majority are drawing down Jobseeker's Allowance to facilitate part-time work.

Figures this week showed unemployment was static at 4.4% in January following revisions by the CSO.

(Pic: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie)