460,000 people will receive the Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week - an increase of over 15% in the last seven days, according to the Department of Social Protection.
The 62,715 rise in claims reflects the re-introduction of tighter public health restrictions and more business closures as the prevalence of Covid-19 has risen in recent weeks.
Construction saw the highest weekly increase of almost 75%, rising from 32,152 last week to 56,217 people, following the closure of many sites on Friday 9 January.
However, today's total for PUP claims still falls short of the peak of around 600,000 claims last May. The weekly PUP statistic does not include 189,860 people recorded on the Live Register as of the end of December.