THE NUMBER of people on the Live Register fell in November, bringing the standardised unemployment rate down marginally to 14.6 per cent.

Figures published by the CSO this morning show the numbers on the register being 2,895 lower than in October, though this was reduced to 1,500 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The total ‘raw’ number on the register, 417,227, is down 12,290 when compared to the same period last year, with the standard unemployment rate down by 0.2 per cent.

The register is not an indication of unemployment, however, as it includes those in receipt of certain benefits and who may also be in part-time or casual work. There were 87,481 casual and part-time workers on the register in November.

Revealing the figures in the Dáil shortly before their official publication, Kenny said less than half of the annual drop in the numbers signing on was attributable to the numbers in JobBridge or Tús placements.

While the rate was “much too high”, he admitted, it was comforting to see a fall in the unemployment rate.

The number of long-term claimants on the register – those who have been signing on for a year or more – who stands at 186,562, or about 44.7 per cent of the total.

There were 43,392 new registrants in November, of whom males accounted for nearly 55 per cent.

Irish nationals account for 82.3 per cent of those on the register; people from the 12 most recent entrants to the EU accounted for over half of the remainder.

107,121 of the people on the Live Register are under the age of 25.

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