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PUP numbers drop as economy reopens

Official figures show that more than 920,000 people were still receiving some sort of income support in July as the Government extended measures to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was down from just over one million in June, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Reopened

The figures show that, as the economy reopened further, the number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) fell, while the figure for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) rose.

The PUP figure in July was 274,587, down by 164,355 compared with June, while the numbers on the TWSS increased by 55,300 to 447,639.

Live Register

The number of people on the Live Register increased by 12,900 during July to 226,600.

The PUP is expected to continue until April 2021 while the TWSS will be replaced by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme from 1 September.