On March 1st 2023, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the Monthly Unemployment (MU) figures for February 2023. The Monthly Unemployment figures are estimated using trends in the Live Register figures based on the most recent Labour Force Survey, which was published on February 23rd 2023 and covered the fourth quarter of last year.
116,500 people were unemployed in February 2023, a drop of 5% over the year or 5,700 fewer people. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4.3%, a decline of 0.3 percentage points. There were 6,300 fewer men unemployed than in February 2022, but 600 more women were unemployed in February 2023. The Monthly Unemployment Rate for men was 0.5 percentage points lower, at 4%, and 0.1 ppt lower for women, at 4.7%. Women accounted for 51.2% of the unemployed in February 2023, 2.9 percentage points higher than in February 2022.
In February 2023, 36,600 people aged 15-24 were unemployed: 8,200 more young people than a year ago. Their MUR was 10.2%, 2.1 percentage points higher than February 2022. Over the year, unemployment amongst young men increased by 6,200 to 19,000, and their unemployment rate was 10.3%, an increase of 3 percentage points over the year. Unemployment amongst young women rose by 2,000 to 17,600, and their unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 10.1%. In February 2023, women accounted for 48% of those unemployed in this age category, in comparison to 55% in February 2022.
The monthly unemployment figures for people aged 25-74 dropped by 14.7% over the year to 79,900 people, and their MUR decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 3.4%. Unemployment decreased for men in this age category by 25% to 37,800, and their MUR was 3%, a drop of 1.1 percentage points. Unemployment also declined for women, by 3.2% to 42,100 women and their Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) declined by 0.3 percentage points to 3.8%. Women accounted for 52.7% of those unemployed in this age category in February 2023, an increase of 6.3 percentage points over the year.