The number of people signing on the live register fell sharply last month, down 15,350 or 8.7 per cent to 160,466, writes Barry O'Keeffe.

Seasonally adjusted, the figure showed a fall of 2,800 to 163,700. The year -on-year fall in numbers claiming benefit was the largest since August 2001. The figures normally fall in September when the schools re-open but analysts said yesterday that the seasonally adjusted figure showed the labour market remained quite positive.

The figures, released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), showed that the standardised unemployment rate remained steady at 4.5 per cent last month.

The unadjusted decline showed a fall of 10,736 females and 4,587 males. The live register declined in all regions of the State. The CSO said the largest falls were in the west and mid-west, while the lowest decreases were in the south-west and Dublin regions.

"From the Government's point of view, and particularly from the perspective of the new Minister for Finance, the continued improvement in the labour market is good news as it will boost income tax receipts and take further pressure off spending," said Mr Jim Power, chief economist, Friends First.

Davy Stockbrokers said the numbers confirmed just how healthy the Irish labour market is at present. It expects the unemployment rate to hold at around 4.5 per cent over the balance of the year.

Bloxhams' Mr Alan McQuaid said the underlying trend remained positive, with almost 10,400 fewer people signing on in September this year than in the same month last year. "Based on these latest figures, we now think the average number on the live register in 2004 will be 166,200, down 6,200 from 172,400 in 2003."

The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) welcomed the reduction. "Although these reductions are welcomed, there are well over 160,000 people claiming an unemployment payment and we ask the new Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Martin, to pursue policies that will create employment opportunities for all," said Mr Eric Conroy, INOU general secretary.

"The jobs creation policies must reflect the diverse labour supply on offer," he said.

The live register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers entitled to unemployment assistance or benefit.

Meanwhile, figures on notified redundancies for September, also released yesterday, showed 1,736 redundancies were notified to the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment during the month. This was a fall of 32.3 per cent over the same month last year. Over the first nine months of 2004, 18,137 redundancies have been notified, a decline of 10 per cent for the same period last year.

The Small Firms Association (SFA) said the figures masked a continual erosion of jobs. SFA director Mr Pat Delaney said: "While year-on-year redundancy figures are declining, the overall outcome for 2004 is likely to be in the region of 23,000 redundancies."