Louth sees fall in number signing on Live Register

There was a fall last month across Louth in the number of people signing on the Live Register, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

3,167 people signed on in Dundalk in March 2025, down 72 on the 3,239 who signed on in February. It is also down on an annual basis, with 224 fewer signing on in the town than the 3,391 who signed on in Dundalk in March 2024.

It is important to note however that the annual fall may relate to people arriving in Ireland from Ukraine under the EU's Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) accessing Department of Social Protection (DSP) supports, and being included in the Live Register. From 9 September 2024 beneficiaries of the EU’s TPD living in Designated Accommodation Centres, no longer qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance and thus are no longer enumerated on the Live Register.

In Ardee, the number of people signing on the Live Register fell by 35 to 656 in March 2025, compared to February. On an annual basis, there were 103 fewer signing on in March 2025 than March 2024.

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Drogheda also saw a monthly fall, with 3,114 signing on in March, compared to 3,218 in February. On an annual basis, is is down 204 on the 3,318 who signed on in the town in March 2024.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted Live Register total for March 2025 was 162,900 people, down by 1,600 people or 1.0% from February 2025. The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 159,866 people for March 2025, of which 56.1% were male and 71.3% were Irish.

The 25-34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in March 2025 at 37,536 people or 23.5% of the total. In March 2025 there were 103,969 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 7,494 fewer people (-6.7%) than March 2024.