The number of people on the Live Register rose marginally in June amid concern that Ireland’s labour market is slowing.

The seasonally adjusted total rose by 400 to 172,600 last month.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) broadly reflect the unemployment rate detailed in separate CSO data, published earlier this week, which put the headline jobless rate at 5 per cent.

While the register is not a measure of unemployment as people with part-time work can be entitled to benefits, it does track trends in the labour market.

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The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 176,935 in June, of which 54.3 per cent were male and 72.3 per cent were Irish.

This is an increase of 4,272 people or 2.5 per cent when compared with June last year.

The 25-34 age cohort made up the largest number of those on the register at 42,864 people or 24.2 per cent of the total.

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The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to June were Waterford (6.8 per cent) and Longford (6.7 per cent), while the largest decreases were in Monaghan (4.8 per cent) and Clare (3.9 per cent).

The CSO said there were 122,458 people on the register for less than one year, accounting for 69 per cent of the total.

The evolution of AI (artificial intelligence) is expected to result in downsizing, particularly in the tech sector. Microsoft, Meta, Oracle and TikTok have in recent weeks announced job losses.

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TikTok last week said it planned to cut jobs at its Irish office, with up to 300 redundancies being signalled. And it emerged on Tuesday that Microsoft plans to cut at least 60 roles from its Irish workforce.

Meta said it would shed up to 350 roles from its Irish staff numbers as part of a wider cull across the business, with heavy investment in AI being blamed for the retrenchment.