The number of claimants on the Live Register fell again last month as conditions in the labour market continued to improve.
The latest monthly figures show the number of people signing on dropped by 2,900 (-1.2 per cent) in December, bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 241,300, its lowest level since August 2008.
While the register is not a measure of unemployment, as people with part-time work can be entitled to benefits, it reflects conditions in the labour market.
The latest register tallies with the decline in headline unemployment, which has fallen from 15 per cent in 2012 to just over 6 per cent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the register showed a monthly decrease of 1,800 males and 900 women in December. The number of long-term unemployed people on the Live Register at the end of December 2017 dropped to 97,918, an 18.3 per cent fall on the same month last year.
