The number of claimants on the Live Register continues has dipped below 300,000 for the first time since 2008.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the number on the register fell by 1,800 in August, reducing the seasonally adjusted total to 299,200.

In unadjusted terms, this represents an annual decrease of 42,780 or 11.9 per cent.

The number of claimants on the register has been steadily falling since its peak in August 2011, when the total hit 448,700, as improvements in the wider economy push more people back to work.

The Live Register is not a measure of unemployment as claimants can work part time. Separate CSO figures, published recently, put the State’s headline rate of unemployment at a post-crash low of 8.3 per cent.

Long-term unemployed

The latest register numbers show the number of long-term unemployed on the register – those claiming for over 12 months – in August stood at 140,346, representing 44.4 per cent of the total.

The number of long-term claimants has fallen by 23,923 or 14.6 per cent in the past year.

The CSO noted that the number of people on various job-activation programmes stood at 60,012 as of July, a decrease of 7,234 (10.8 per cent) from the previous year.

People on activation programmes are not included in the overall Live Register numbers.