On June 7th, 2024, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the Monthly Unemployment (MU) figures for May, 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. At times these revisions can be quite dramatic, particularly in the statistics for people aged 15-24. The LFS is published on a quarterly basis by the CSO and provides the official employment and unemployment figures.
According to the latest Monthly Unemployment figures, 111,700 people were unemployed in May, 2024, a decrease of 3.2% on May, 2023. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points over the year. 6,200 fewer men were unemployed in May, 2024, but 2,500 more women were unemployed. The Monthly Unemployment Rate for men decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 3.8%, but increased for women by 0.1 percentage points to 4.1%. Women accounted for 49% of the unemployed in May, 2024, a rise of 4 percentage points over the year.
In May, 2024, 27,300 people aged 15-24 were unemployed, 8,700 fewer young people than in May, 2023. Their MUR was 7.7%, 2.5 percentage points lower than a year ago. Over the year, unemployment amongst young men decreased by 24% to 14,300, and their unemployment rate was 7.8%, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points over the year. Unemployment amongst young women decreased by 24% to 13,000, and their unemployment rate dropped by 2.3 percentage points to 7.5%. In May, 2024, women accounted for 48% of those unemployed in this age category, a slight increase over the year.
The Monthly Unemployment figure for people aged 25-74 was 84,500, in May 2024, a 6% increase over the year. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 3.4% in May 2024, an increase of 0.1 percentage point. In this age category unemployment decreased for men by 4% to 42,300, and their MUR decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.3%. Unemployment increased for women by 19% to 42,200 women and their Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) rose by 0.5 percentage points to 3.6%. Women accounted for 50% of those unemployed in this age category in May, 2024, an increase of 5 percentage points over the year.