The number of people registered as unemployed in the Isle of Man is up month on month, but is lower than it was 12 months ago.
There were 91 more people out of work at the end of January compared with the end of December.
The total now stands at 973.
But it’s the lowest January figure for four years, down 209 people since January 2014.
The unemployment rate is 2.2 per cent.
That compares well internationally, with the UK standing at 5.8 per cent and Germany at 4.8 per cent.
While 48 per cent of tohose unemployed have been out of work for three months or less, 20 per cent have been unemployed for a year or more.
There wre 642 vacancies notified to the Job Centre in the month and 339 vacancies at the end of the month.
Once again, this is a sign of a skills gap in the economy.
There are 170 people with a construction industry background unemployed but just eight vancanies.
But there are more vacancies in education and health services than people with those qualifications looking for work.
And while the island’s booming e-gaming sector has 18 vacancies, only one person with experience in the sector is looking for work.
In January 1995 the number out of work stood at 1,759. The lowest January figure in recent years was in 2002 when the figure was 244.