Unemployment rate at seven-year low of 8.9%

Some 191,700 people were recorded as unemployed last month — a rate of 8.9%.

Official CSO figures revealed the number of people out of work has come down by 32,100 (1.5 percentage points) in the last year.

A breakdown of the records showed 120,700 men and 71,000 women were classed as unemployed, while the youth unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 19.5%, a small fall on October’s rate of 19.8%.