Numbers signing on the dole down 2,000

The number of people signing on the dole fell by almost 2,000 last month.

Official figures from the Live Register revealed the numbers on unemployment benefits totalled 359,076 in August, down almost 40,000 in the last year.

The report follows statistics released earlier in the week that showed the number of people out of work increased by 400 to 206,500 last month.