A further 3,900 people came off State job supports last month, a reflection of the State’s tightening labour market, figures from theThere were 177,100 people on the Live Register in April. The number receiving benefits has fallen sharply since the removal of Covid-19 restrictions and the ending of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in March.
All PUP recipients have either transferred to a Jobseeker’s scheme or had their PUP claim closed, it added. The Live Register is not a measure of unemployment as people with part-time work can be entitled to benefits, but it does broadly track improvements in the labour market.The State’s official jobless rate fell to 4.8 per cent in April, down from 5.1 per cent the previous month, approximating the pre-Covid level.and rising concerns about the cost of living.