Unemployment and the inflation rate have fallen again in the island.

The number registered out of work fell by 22 in March to a total of 349, the lowest figure since June 2014. It is also 50 down on the jobless figure in March last year.

Of those unemployed, 253 are men (72% of the total), and 96 are women (28%).

The unemployment rate - the proportion of economically active population registered unemployed - for March is 0.8%, which is a 0.1% decrease from the previous month.

During the month 865 job vacancies were notified to the Job Centre.

At the end of the month, 679 remained. Of these 52% (356) were full time positions and 48% (323) were part time.

Sectors with the highest number of unemployed are retail distribution, catering, medical and construction.

And those with the highest numbers of vacancies are retail distribution, catering, medical services and tourist accommodation.

The International Labour Organisation measure of unemployment, which includes those who are not registered but may still be looking for work, estimates the jobless figure at 794 in March 2019, compared with 816 in February, an unemployment rate of 1.9%.

Meanwhile, inflation is also down.

The annual rate of inflation as measured by CPI decreased in March to 1.3%, down from 1.9% in February.

Transport and clothing and footwear prices contributes to the reduction in the rate of inflation.

There was also no inflationary pressure from petrol and diesel prices.

With the exception of footwear, there has been a reduction in price across all types of clothing compared with 12 months ago, caused by price discounting across a number of retailers.

Education costs, particularly pre-school fees and education classes, were the most significant contributor to inflation in March.