The number of people signing on to the Live Register declined slightly in April, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The standardised unemployment rate fell from 14.7 per cent to 14.6 per cent in April.
The decline was attributed to a 0.4 per cent fall in the number of people signing on the Live Register.
Last month 439,571 people signed on the Live Register, an increase of 6,914, or 1.6 per cent over the year. In the year to April 2010 an additional 50,781 people joined the register.
On a seasonally adjusted basis there the number of males signing on declined by 1,600 last month. The number of women signing on was unchanged.
The number of female claimants on the Live Register has increased by 7,997 or 5.5 per cent to 152,826 over the year to the end of April 2011 while the number of male claimants decreased by 1,083 or 0.4 per cent to 286,745.
This compares with increases of 20,788, or 16.8 per cent and 29,993 or 11.6 per cent for females and males respectively in the year to April 2010.
The number of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register increased over the year by 6,485 or 8.2 per cent to 85,594, the latest figures show.
Casual and part-time workers in April accounted for 19.5 per cent of those on the Live Register, an increase from 12.4 per cent three years earlier.
In April there were 117,488 Jobseekers Benefit claimants on the Live Register, an annual decrease of 31,172. The number of Jobseekers Allowance claimants increased over the same period by 31,743 to 293,203. Jobseekers Allowance claimants now account for 66.7 per cent of all persons on the Live Register, as against 60.4 per cent a year earlier.
The number of people aged 25 years and over on the Live Register rose by 10,496 or 3 per cent in the year to April. The number of people aged under 25 fell by 3,582 or 4.3 per cent.
According to the figures 61.5 per cent of those on the Live Register were short-term claimants, compared to 72.9 per cent a year earlier. During the same period there was a 44 per cent rise in the number of long term claimants.
The largest percentage increase on the Live Register was in the midlands, followed by the mid-east and Border regions.
Irish nationals accounted for 82.4 per cent of all claimants on the Live Register, up 2.2 per cent on the preceding year. The number of non-Irish nationals decreased by 1.1 per cent.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment as it includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Allowance.
Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey, the latest of which shows that the unemployment rate was 14.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The average unemployment rate during 2010 was 13.6 per cent.
Minister for Jobs and Enterprise Richard Bruton said while the figures marked a modest improvement “we’re not going to be sending up any flares celebrating this…it is still a very poor figure.”
He said: “We need to create momentum for a turning point in what has been a very grim number of years. Huge mistakes have been made in policy and this Government is determined to put them right.”
Lobby group Ibec welcomed the fall in claimants but said the fact that nearly 440,000 remained on the Live Register highlighted the importance of the Government's jobs initiative, details of which are to be announced on Tuesday next.
"The Live Register data together with the latest figures on income tax receipts point to some improvement in the labour market," said IBEC senior economist Reetta Suonpera.
"The Government jobs initiative must introduce decisive measures to tackle unemployment. Major reform of state employment services and the welfare system is needed, along with a new drive to get graduates and the unemployed into work. Unless action is taken now, Ireland risks a prolonged and damaging period of high long-term unemployment," she added.
ISME described the unemployment situation as "frighteningly bleak" and said the Government's new initiative must contain measures that recognise the barriers which prevent job creation and support companies.
