Live Register figures fall to 11-year low again in March
The number of people on the Live Register fell by 1.2% in March, the second subsequent month when figures hit an 11-year low.
194,800 people are now on the Register, with March and February's tally reaching the lowest level since February 2008.
The data from the Central Statistics Office showed that the 1.2% month-on-month drop represented 2,300 people.
The unadjusted figure for last month stood at 192,407, an annual decrease of 17.2%.
The Live Register includes part-time workers - people who work up to three days a week, as well as seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance.
There were 40,759 casual and part-time workers on the Register in March, while there were 12,937 new overall registrants.
According to the CSO, the largest occupational group on the Register was those working in the 'craft and related' sector at 17.1%.
This was followed by 'plant and machine operatives'.
The number of male claimants decreased by 17.7% between March 2018 and 2019, while the figure for female claimants was a decrease of 16.5%.
The CSO's monthly unemployment data for March showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4%, down from 5.6% in February.
The number of people unemployed stood at 131,300 in March 2019, an annual decrease of 6,200 from 5.7%.
