The number of people out of work in the Isle of Man has dropped again.

The latest government statistics - for October - say that there were 471 fewer people out of work compared with a year earlier.

It’s down 39 from the month earlier.

There were 951 vacancies when the statistics were compiled, supporting anecdotal evidence that it’s hard to fill jobs in the island.

The hardest-hit sectors were retail distribution, where 182 people are needed; medical and health services which are 113 short; and catering and entertainment where there were 169 vacancies.

A total of 1,175 job vacancies were notified to the Job Centre in October, down 43 compared with September.

There were 58 new claimants during the month and 97 left the register.

The Manx measure of the unemployment rate - the proportion of the economically active population registered as unemployed - was 0.8%, a decrease of 0.1% on September.

But, using the International Labour Organisation estimate, 771 people were unemployed and looking for work, compared with 810 in September.

The ILO measure includes people looking for work but not claiming benefits. It is a rate of 1.8%. The most recent corresponding figure for England was 4.3%.

What isn’t known from the statistics is the size of the labour market. If a number of employed or employable people have left the island - because of factors such as Covid-19 and Brexit - the picture might not be so rosy.

However, it is a big turnaround since April 2020, when the pandemic’s effect on the job market first hit. Then 1,347 people were registered out of work using the Manx government measure.

The figure dropped every month until January during the second lockdown - when it jumped by more than 250 from the month before - but it has fallen every month since then.