Monthly fall in number signing on in Louth but figure up on 2025
The number of people signing on the Live Register is down from July but it remains higher than the same period last year
Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that while there was a monthly fall in the number of people signing on in Louth, the figure is an increase on the number signing on in the county during the same month last year.
The figures show that in Dundalk, 3,491 people signed on in August 2026. This is down by 41 on the 3,532 people who signed on in the town in July but it is up by 127 on the 3,364 who signed on in Dundalk in August 2025.
In Ardee, 752 people signed on in August, down by 89 on the 841 who signed on in July, but up by 66 on the 686 who signed on in Ardee in August 2025.
The situation was similar in Drogheda, where 3,487 people signed on in August, down 149 on the 3,636 who signed on in the town in July, but up by 88 on the 3,399 who signed on in August 2025.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted Live Register total for August 2026 was 173,600 people, down by 600 people from July 2026.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 182,517 people for August 2026, of which 53.8% were male and 73.0% were Irish. This was an increase of 4,917 people or 2.8% when compared with August 2025.
The 25 to 34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in August 2026 at 45,232 people or 24.8% of the total.
The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to August 2026 were Waterford (+5.8%) and Dublin (+5.1%), while the largest decreases were in Clare (-4.7%) and Monaghan (-4.0%).
There were 127,708 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 70.0% of the total number of people on the Live Register.