Unemployment has increased for the third month in a row.

The number of people registered out of work at the end of December increased by 39 on the previous month.

And it was a rise of 22 compared with the same month last year.

The figures were released in the Isle of Man Labour Report for December.

The unemployment rate for December 2019 was 0.9%, an increase of 0.1% on the previous month.

A total of 109 people signed on to the unemployment register and 70 people left the register over the month.

There was a decrease in the number of vacancies notified to the Job Centre.

During the month 547 job vacancies were notified to the Job Centre. At the end of the month, 403 remained.

Sectors with the highest numbers of unemployed included retail distribution, skilled and unskilled construction and tourist accommodation.