Live Register up in March

The seasonally-adjusted Live Register total increased from 155,900 in February to 159,000 in March, an increase of 3,100.

This compares with a decrease of 100 in March last year.

In the year to March 2005 there was an unadjusted decrease of 11,205 (-6.6%).This compares with an unadjusted decrease of 14,478 (-8.4%) recorded in the year to February 2005.

Other features include:

- The monthly increase was made up of an increase of 2,200 women and 900 men.

- The standardised unemployment rate in March was 4.3%. This compares with 4.4% in October 2004, based on the Quarterly National Household Survey.

- In the month, the estimated number of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register was 8,210 males and 13,373 females.

The Live Register includes part-time workers (those who work up to three days a week) and seasonal and casual workers entitled to Unemployment Assistance or Benefit. Unemployment is measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and the latest seasonally-adjusted figure, for September to November 2004, is 86,900 persons unemployed.