11% fall in number of dole claimants over last 12 months
The number of male claimants on the Live Register decreased by 26,792, or 12.9%, to 181,512 in the year to April while female claimants fell by 10,974, or 8.1%, to 124,273.
While the number of long-term claimants — those on the register for more than a year — remains high at 138,222, it is still 20,266, or 12.8%, fewer than 12 months earlier.
The CSO also provided details of the number of welfare claimants availing of the Government’s job activation programmes which are particularly aimed at the long-term unemployed. It said there are currently 79,906 people on such programmes, 9,798 fewer than a year ago.
People who used to work in the “craft and related” sectors are the biggest group on the Live Register, representing one in five claimants, though the CSO pointed out that the number in the group fell over the year by 9,469 or 13.9% to 58,899.
“The second largest annual percentage decrease was in the plant and machine operatives group, which decreased by 12.1%,” it said.
“The two smallest occupational groups in April were the associate professional and technical and the managers and administrators groups which accounted for 2.9% and 4.5% of the Live Register respectively.”
The CSO also analysed age groups on the Live Register and found the rate of decrease in claimants has been highest among young people.
It said the number of people under 25 claiming the dole has fallen by 8,916 or 19.4% compared to a fall of 28,850 or 9.7% for those over the age of 25. As of April, Irish nationals accounted for 82.8%, or 253,051, of the total people on the Live Register.
Of the 52,734 non-Irish nationals, the largest constituent group was nationals from the EU15 to EU28 states (30,066), followed by Britain (11,535).
There were 23,671 new registrants on the Live Register in April 2016, consisting of 10,242 Jobseeker’s Benefit claims; 12,270 Jobseeker’s Allowance claims; and 1,159 “other registrants”.
On average, 3,061 men and 2,857 women were new registrants on the Live Register each week of the month.
