THE LIVE REGISTER figures for May were released today.

They contained some good news in terms of a total monthly decrease: a 1,600 reduction, once the figures are seasonally adjusted.

In unadjusted terms, there were 388,764 people signing on the Live Register last month. That’s a year-on-year decrease of 32,973.

The seasonally-adjusted figures showed a drop of 1,000 men signing on in May of this year, while the number of women dropped by over 500.

Last month’s data reflects an ongoing trend: the number of male claimants dropped by 26,507 in the last 12 months, while female claimants dropped by 6,466.

In the previous year, there was a 4.2 per cent drop in the number of men on the Live Register, while female claimants increased by 0.4 per cent.

Reaction

Reacting to the figures, small and medium enterprises group ISME said the absence of a Government vision on the economy was creating a slow-down in job creation.

“SME owner-managers continue to be troubled by economic uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the stability of the marketplace,” ISME CEO Mark Fielding said.

“There is a continuous creep in business costs which are, in many cases, completely out of line with our competitors and unsustainable.”

Unemployment

The Live Register isn’t designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers.

The standardised unemployment rate in May of this year was 11.8 per cent — unchanged from the previous month.

More detail on the figures is available at the CSO website.

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