On November 2nd, 2023, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the Monthly Unemployment (MU) figures for October 2023. The Monthly Unemployment figures are estimated using trends in the Live Register figures based on data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), and are subject to revision. For example, the Monthly Unemployment figures reported for September on October 4th have been revised upwards in this publication from 115,700 to 130,100 people; and the MUR has been changed from 4.2% to 4.7%.
According to the Monthly Unemployment figures 132,800 people were unemployed in October 2023, an increase of 11% on October 2022. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points over the year. 13,100 more men were unemployed in October 2023. 59,200 women were unemployed in October 2022 and 2023. The Monthly Unemployment Rate for men increased by 0.7 percentage points to 5% and decreased for women by 0.2 percentage points to 4.5%. Women accounted for 44.8% of the unemployed in October 2023, 4.7 percentage points lower than in the same month last year.
In October 2023, 47,100 people aged 15-24 were unemployed, 10,600 more young people than in October 2022. Their MUR was 12.5%, 1.8 percentage points higher than a year ago. Over the year, unemployment amongst young men increased by 27% to 23,100, and their unemployment rate was 12.2%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points over the year. Unemployment amongst young women increased by 32% to 24,000, and their unemployment rate rose by 1.7 percentage points to 12.8%. In October 2023, women accounted for 51% of those unemployed in this age category, a rise of 1.1 percentage points over the year.
The monthly unemployment figures for people aged 25-74 increased by 3% over the year to 85,600 people, but their MUR remained unchanged at 3.6%. In this age category unemployment increased for men by 20% to 50,400, and their MUR increased by 0.6 percentage points to 4%. Unemployment declined for women by 14% to 35,200 women and their Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) dropped by 0.7 percentage points to 3.1%. Women accounted for 41% of those unemployed in this age category in October 2023, a decrease of 8 percentage points over the year.