New hiring, which was strongest in construction, manufacturing and retail, accounted for the bulk of the 11,500 removed from the unemployment rolls.

Just over 7,000 newly registered as unemployed, a 4.1% decline year-on year though 1.7% more than in February.

Almost half were made unemployed by the expiry of fixed-term contracts, 1,076 were first time job seekers, and 1,414 were laid off.

The statistics show a continued rise in the share of the long-term unemployed, which now account for 51.5% of all jobless, up almost four percentage points year-on-year.

The share of the jobless over 50 years old is also gradually increasing, as it was up a point over the year before to 31.6%.