The Live Register has recorded another large monthly drop in the number of people signing on to avail of benefits.
Figures from Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the number of claimants fell by 2,800 last month to stand at 285,600, the lowest level recorded in eight years.
The Live Register is not a measure of unemployment as claimants can work part time. Separate CSO figures put the State’s headline rate of unemployment at a post-crash low of 7.3 per cent.
In unadjusted terms, the numbers on the Live Register in November stood at 273,484, which corresponded to an annual decrease of 43,102 or 13.6 per cent.
The figures show that the number of men signing on fell by 28, 980 (15.4 per cent) in the year to November while the number of women on the register dropped by 14,122 (11 per cent).
They also reveal that the number of long term claimants fell by 24,905 or 17 per cent on an annual basis to stand at a total of 121,888.
The CSO noted that the number of people on various job-activation programmes stood at 70,878 as of October, a decrease of 9,698 (12 per cent) from the previous year.
People on activation programmes are not included in the overall Live Register numbers.
