About 1,600 people came off the Live Register in March, bringing the number in receipt of State job supports down to 180,500 on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the Live Register fell 0.9 per cent last month compared to February, pointing to an ongoing labour market squeeze.
Although the Live Register is not a measure of unemployment, as people with part-time work may be entitled to benefits, it does broadly track changes in the labour market.
The counties that saw the largest percentage increase in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to March were Kerry (29.4 per cent) and Leitrim (27.2 per cent).
The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more was 61,827, which was down 6,885 from a year earlier. There were 117,950 people (65.6 per cent) on the register for less than one year.
There were 23,295 people benefitting from the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive included in the figures, which was an increase of 119 from February.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 179,777 people for March 2023. Of those, 53.8 per cent were men and 69.2 per cent were Irish. The 35-44 age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in March at 42,885 persons or 23.9 per cent.
