Unemployment rose last month.

The number registered out of work and claiming job seekers’ allowance increased by 278 in January.

That’s 630 more than the same month last year.

The unemployment rate - the proportion of the economically active population registered out of work - was 2.4%, an increase of 0.6% on December.

January was dominated by the three week circuit breaker lockdown that ended on February 1.

There were 400 job vacancies notified to the Job Centre in January, a drop of 125 compared to the last month.

At the end of the month, 344 remained. Of these, 66% (226) were full-time positions and 34% (118) were part-time.

International Labour Organisation estimates, which include those out of work but not registered unemployment, put the jobless figures at 1,929 - a rate of 4.5%.

Construction, retail, catering and other business services remain the sectors with the highest number of unemployed.