On August 6th, 2024, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the Monthly Unemployment (MU) figures for July, 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. 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, 136,100 people were unemployed in July 2024, an increase of 13.5% on July 2023, the highest this figure has been since the end of 2021. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 4.7%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the year and the highest this rate has been since early 2022. 10,700 more women and 5,500 more men were unemployed in July, 2024. The Monthly Unemployment Rate for men increased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.7%, and for women by 0.7 percentage points to 4.8%. Women accounted for 47.8% of the unemployed in July, 2024, a rise of 2.4 percentage points over the year.
In July, 2024, 42,200 people aged 15-24 were unemployed, 4,500 more young people than in July, 2023. Their MUR was 11.4%, 0.9 percentage points higher than a year ago. Over the year, unemployment amongst young men increased by 23% to 23,800, and their unemployment rate was 12.3%, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over the year. Unemployment amongst young women remained unchanged at 18,300, while their unemployment rate increased slightly to 10.5%. In July, 2024, women accounted for 43% of those unemployed in this age category, a decrease of five percentage points over the year.
The Monthly Unemployment figure for people aged 25-74 was 93,900, in July 2024, a 14% increase over the year. The Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) was 3.7% in July 2024, an increase of 0.3 percentage points. In this age category unemployment increased for men by 2.2% to 47,100, while their MUR remained unchanged at 3.6%. Unemployment increased for women by 30% to 46,800 women and their Monthly Unemployment Rate (MUR) rose by 0.7 percentage points to 3.9%. Women accounted for 49.8% of those unemployed in this age category in July, 2024, an increase of 6 percentage points over the year.