The Live Register fell in September for the first time since February, with 5,400 fewer people signing on, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The standardised unemployment rate fell to 13.7 per cent during the month, a slight decline from the 13.8 per cent recorded in August.
A total of 442,417 people are now signing on to the Live Register, an annual rise of 22,563, or 5.4 per cent, on an unadjusted basis.
The pace of increase has slowed somewhat from August, when the register rose by 30,198, or 6.9 per cent in the year.
Minister for Social Protection, Éamon Ó Cuív described the drop in the number of people signing on in September as “encouraging and very welcome”. He said it was evidence that the register is stabilising, although he acknowledged that the fall was not entirely unexpected, given that it always drops in September as the academic year begins.
The Live Register includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers who can receive jobseekers benefit or allowance. About 17.4 per cent of the register, or 76,879 people, were casual and part-time workers during the month.
There were a total of 39,960 new registrants on the Live Register during the month, about 9,900 each month, up from 36,194 in August. This was offset by closed claims and the movement of people between schemes.
Two thirds of those signing on were short-term claimants.
There were 128,350 jobseekers benefit claimants on the Live Register during the month, a fall of about 16,490, or 11.4 per cent. The number of jobseekers allowance claimants also fell, but at a lower rate of 2.6 per cent, or 7,582. Other registrants declined by 434, or 1.7 per cent, to 25,642.
On an annual basis, jobseekers benefit claimants fell by 49,063, or 27.7 per cent, while the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance and other registrants rose by 62,745 and 8,881 respectively.
Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Richard Bruton described the fall as a “small let-up in the relentless rise in unemployment”.
He warned it should not be seen as a sign that the jobs crisis is easing. “Instead, it reflects the scourge of rising emigration,” Mr Bruton said.
“The number of Irish people leaving the country is up by a staggering 33 per cent year-on-year. The impact of emigration is reflected in a drop in unemployment among the young and the non-Irish in these latest figures.”
He added: “The Government’s blinkered focus of writing whatever cheque is necessary to keep failed banks alive has blinded them to the human cost being felt in every corner and community of this country.”
Labour enterprise spokesman Willie Penrose welcomed the Live Register decline but said the underlying pattern remains unchanged with "virtually all of the decline" attributed to factors such as students returning to college.
"Yesterday's announcement by the Government of an 'integrated jobs strategy' and Brian Cowen's 'jobs summit' last week will impress nobody," Mr Penrose said.
"This Government is not capable of dealing with the unemployment crisis or leading the country back to economic recovery. The sooner it recognises this and allows the people to elect a new government with a fresh mandate, the better for all our people."
The Small Firms' Association called on the Government to stabilise the enterprise environment to help retain and create jobs. Director Avine McNally said the annual increase of 5.4 per cent showed the market was still facing challenges, with many workers on short time working or reducing working hours.
"Jobs have to be the number one priority – livelihoods, individuals and families are being affected every day by reduced working hours, short time working and the uncertainty about future employment," she said.
The Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) criticised the Government’s jobs record and said unless immediate action is taken, the economy will deteriorate further.
Commenting on the latest figures, Isme chief executive Mark Fielding said: "The so called strategy and action plan to increase jobs, announced yesterday by Government, is long on aspiration and short on substance and a rehash of old initiatives and will do little in the short term to alleviate the crisis.
"The ‘no job, no hope’ attitude, which is current, needs to be addressed in a coherent manner, with immediate actions and not another Pollyanna report,” he said.
