On January 31st, 2024, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the Monthly Unemployment (MU) figures for January, 2024. 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. The LFS is published on a quarterly basis by the CSO and provides the official employment and unemployment figures.
According to the Monthly Unemployment figures 127,700 people were unemployed in January, 2024, an increase of 11% on January, 2023. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4.5%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points over the year. 6,100 more men were unemployed in January, 2024, and 6,500 more women. The Monthly Unemployment Rate for men increased by 0.3 percentage points to 4.6% and for women by 0.3 percentage points to 4.4%. Women accounted for 46% of the unemployed in January, 2024, up marginally on the same month last year.
In January, 2024, 46,400 people aged 15-24 were unemployed, 11,400 more young people than in January, 2023. Their MUR was 12.1%, 2.1 percentage points higher than a year ago. Over the year, unemployment amongst young men increased by 18% to 21,400, and their unemployment rate was 11%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points over the year. Unemployment amongst young women increased by 48% to 25,000, and their unemployment rate rose by 3.3 percentage points to 13.2%. In January, 2024, women accounted for 54% of those unemployed in this age category, a rise of 5.6 percentage points over the year.
The Monthly Unemployment figure for people aged 25-74 was 81,300, in January, 2024, an 1.5 percentage points increase over the year. However, the Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) remained the same, at 3.3%. In this age category unemployment increased for men by 6% to 47,100, and their MUR increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.6%. Unemployment declined for women by 4.5% to 34,200 women and their Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 3%. Women accounted for 42% of those unemployed in this age category in January, 2024, a decrease of 2.6 percentage points over the year.