THE NUMBERS claiming unemployment benefits fell in October for the second consecutive month, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office.

When adjusted for seasonal factors, the decline on September amounted to 6,600 people – the largest such reduction in 14 years. This brought the adjusted number dependent on jobless benefits down to 443,000.

The absolute numbers, which are not seasonally adjusted, recorded a larger fall of almost 13,000 claimants, bringing the total count to just under 430,000.

The decline follows a fall in September compared to August. This is the first time since 2007 that the number of claimants has fallen for two months in a row.

The proportion of the workforce unemployed fell to 13.6 per cent in October – down from a 16-year peak of 13.8 per cent registered in August.

Declines in claimants were broadly similar between the sexes, with percentage decreases of males and females falling by 2.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively since August.

Figures on the occupational background of claimants, which are available only for the past 12 months, show an across the board decline in numbers signing on.

The new figures, none of which are seasonally adjusted, show that much of the very sharp increase in white-collar joblessness has been reversed.

Moreover, the decline in claims among those with higher skills levels has been larger than those with lower skills in most cases in recent months. Male blue-collar workers, described by the CSO as “craft and related” by occupation, are by far the largest single grouping claiming welfare, accounting for almost one in four of claimants. This category includes the construction industry.

All eight regions of the State registered declines in benefits claimants in October. The largest month-on-month percentage decrease was in Dublin, at 4.7 per cent. The smallest was in the midlands, where the claimant count fell by 1.4 per cent on September.

Although there was a decline of 173 people claiming benefits for more than a year, this was a tiny fraction of the 12,684 total decline in the unadjusted Live Register. As a result, the trend towards the long-term jobless accounting for an expanding share of total unemployment continued.

In October, more than one in three claimants had been out of work for more than 12 months. In October 2009, the proportion was just over one in five.

Yesterday’s figures show Irish nationals accounted for most of the fall in the numbers signing on. There is no information collected on the reason for claimants signing off, such as whether they have found work, whether they are returning to education or whether they are emigrating.