Live Register decreased by 600 people in August, figures show
The adjusted Live Register has decreased by 600 people to 173,600 people in Augusts 2026, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The Live Register is the CSO’s monthly measurable for the number of people who are accessing any Department of Social Protection support. It is not solely a measure of unemployment in Ireland.
The CSO say that the unadjusted Live Register stood at 182,517 people in August; this is an increase of 4,917 or 2.8% when compared with the same month last year.
The age group that made up the largest number of those on the Live Register were those aged 25 to 34; this was 24.8% of the total in August 2024.
The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases were Waterford (+5.8%) and Dublin (+5.1%), and the largest decreases were in Clare (-4.7%) and Monaghan (-4.0%).
The CSO also say that there were 127,708 people on the Live Register for less than one year; this made up 70.0% of the total number of people on it.
Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said: “The unadjusted Live Register total for August 2026 was 182,517. The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for August 2026 was 173,600, or 600 fewer people than in July 2026.
“There were 11,160 people benefiting from the EU's Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for August 2026, which was 328 fewer people than in July 2026.
“The counties that recorded the largest percentage decreases in numbers on the Live Register in the 12 months to August 2026 were Clare, down 181 people (-4.7%) and Monaghan, down 78 people (-4.0%). The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases were Waterford, up 322 people (+5.8%), and Dublin, up 2,481 people (+5.1%).
“The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more in August 2026 was 54,809, which was 1,273 fewer people (-2.3%) than in August 2025. Additionally, there were 127,708 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 6,190 more people (+5.1%) than in August 2025.”