The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell slightly in August but remains close to the near-three-year high reached in June.
On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register, which measures the number of people claiming jobseekers' benefit and assistance, fell by 1,000 to 162,000 in August on the previous month and the second-highest level since September 2004, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
This compares with an increase of 800 in July.
On an unadjusted basis, the number of people on the register rose by 4,592 equal to 2.7 per cent year-on-year. This compares with an unadjusted increase of 5,647 (+3.3 per cent) in the year to July 2007.
Despite the decrease the standardised unemployment rate is now 4.7 per cent.
