The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose slightly in May but not enough to raise overall unemployment that stayed unchanged at 4.4 per cent.
The seasonally adjusted Live Register total increased from 158,200 in April to 158,800 in May.
The standardised unemployment rate in May was 4.4 per cent when adjustments are made to the latest Quarterly National Household Survey.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment as it includes part-time, 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 December to February 2006, is 92,000 persons unemployed.
