There were 2,900 less people signing on last month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Comparing August's figures to August 2013, there were 35,500 less people on the live register this year which is a reduction of 8.5 percent.

There was also a reduction in the number of long-term claimants with 9,210 less people on the dole for more than a year in the 12 months to August.

However that still leaves 187,598 people on the Live Register for a year or more.

Last month, there was a drop of 3,400 people signing on with a total of 188,670 long term claimants.