THE NUMBER OF people signing on the Live Register dropped slightly last month. The standardised unemployment rate in September was 14.3 per cent – it was 14.4 per cent in August.
However, it is 0.4 per cent higher than the rate of 14 per cent in September 2010. In 2010, the average unemployment rate was 13.6 per cent. A release from the Central Statistics Office today shows that there was a decrease of 5,400 people on the Live Register in September 2011 when seasonal adjustments are taken into account.
Overall, the impression is that the number of people on the Live Register has been stabilising over the last 12 months. (See the note below about what the Live Register means).
Other figures from the CSO over the last 12 months to end of September 2011 show that:
(Note: The Live Register doesn’t necessarily imply a person is fully unemployed – it also counts part-time workers and seasonal and casual workers who can claim some jobseekers’ benefit or allowance).
There is a sobering bar chart contained in the publication of the latest CSO figures. It classifies people on the Live Register according to their occupations – it shows that the largest group by far who are having to seek some kind of jobseekers’ benefit or allowance are men who worked in crafts or trades:
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