The number of claimants on the Live Register or in receipt of the Government's Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) fell 6.9 per cent in August as further Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
A total of 323,010 people were on the register or receiving the PUP last month, the statistics agency said.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 179,761 for August 2021, while the seasonally adjusted figure was 168,400, down 1,600 compared to July.
In the final week of August, some 143,606 people were in receipt of the PUP, which was 19,721 lower than in July and 83,353 lower than the number of PUP recipients a year earlier.
Of the 143,606 persons in receipt of the PUP for the week ending August 29th, some 53.7 per cent were male, 68.9 per cent were Irish and almost a quarter were in each of the 25-34 year old (22.1 per cent) and 35-44 year old (22.9 per cent) age groups.
Payments
Separately, some 363,198 people are currently estimated to have been directly supported by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) in July 2021.
In July 2021, 689,993 persons were on the Live Register or were benefiting from the PUP or the EWSS, down from 951,605 a year earlier.
Of the 363,198 people estimated to have been directly supported by the EWSS in July, 49.9 per cent were male and 50.1 per cent were female, while 27.5 per cent were aged under 25 and 72.5 per cent were aged 25-plus.
The July total for those either on the Live Register or benefiting from the Government’s pandemic payments or subsidies was the lowest since March 2020, the month in which those schemes were introduced.
The fall reflects the gradual reopening of society and the economy since the most recent lockdown started to be unwound in May.
