The number of people signing on the Live Register fell by 2,900 last month, a decline of 0.9 per cent versus February, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

In unadjusted terms, there was an annual decrease of 33,076 or 9.5 per cent in the numbers signing on last month, when compared with March 2015.

The CSO data shows there were 315,600 people on the Live Register last month, compared to 348,676 during March last year, a reduction of 33,076.

The number of long term claimants on the Live Register last month was 141,000.

The number of male long term claimants decreased by 15,410 (-14.7 per cent) in the year to March 2016, while females decreased by 3,993 (-7.2 per cent), giving an overall annual decrease of 19,403 (-12.1 per cent) in the number of long term claimants.