The number of claimants on the Live Register continues to fall as recovery drives more people back to work.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the number of people on the register fell by 3,700 in September, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 337,300.

On an unadjusted basis, this represents an annual decrease of 37,249 or 10.1 per cent.

Separate CSO figures, released earlier this week, put the State’s headline rate of unemployment at 9.4 per cent, its lowest level in six years.

The number of long-term unemployed on the register - those claiming for over 12 months - in September stood at 156,854, representing 47.1 per cent of the total.

The number of long-term claimants has fallen by 21,534 or 12.1 per cent in the past year.

The CSO noted that the number of people on job activation programmes, which primarily target long-term unemployed people, stood at 65,616 in August, an increase of 2,069 (3.3 per cent) from the previous year.

People on activation programmes are not included in the overall Live Register numbers.

The decline in those on the register is strongly linked to improving economic conditions, but is also accounted for by rising emigration and a return to education by those previously in the labour market.

The CSO numbers show decreases in the number of claimants aged under 25 have occurred in all months since July 2010, and has declined by 9,965 or 18.1% per cent in the past year.

The percentage of people aged under 25 on the register now stands at 13.6 per cent for September 2015, down from 14.9 per cent in September 2014 and 16.2 per cent in September 2013.