Youth emigration is disguising unemployment figures, small business group Isme has said, attributing a drop in the numbers under 25 on the Live Register to a rise in emigration since July 2010.

In the year to November, the number of under-25s on the Live Register fell by 8,387, or 11.1 per cent, according to figures released yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.

The percentage of under-25s on the Live Register is 16.1 per cent for November, down from 17.6 per cent in November 2011 and 18.9 per cent in November 2010. “This Government is clearly failing in its efforts to tackle the jobs crisis, and no amount of long-fingered promises of multinational jobs tomorrow or airy-fairy Fás schemes will satisfy the crying need for local jobs today,” Isme chief executive Mark Fielding said.

The number signing on the Live Register fell 1,500 last month, according to the figures. The seasonally adjusted register total, which includes casual and part-time workers, was 432,300 in November.

This gave rise to a standardised unemployment rate of 14.6 per cent, down from 14.7 per cent previous month.

Having peaked at 15 per cent in February, the numbers signing on the Live Register have started to fall gradually. Merrion economist Alan McQuaid said increased emigration and people staying on longer in education contributed to the fall.