The number of people out of work in the island has dropped.
Figures released by the government today show that 890 were registered unemployed at the end of May.
That’s a fall of 96 from the end of April and is 182 fewer than for the same month last year.
The Isle of Man’s unemployment rate is 2 per cent.
That compares well internationally.
The most recent figure for the UK, which is April’s, shows an unemployment rate of 6.6 per cent.
In the Republic of Ireland it’s 12 per cent, Germany 5.2 per cent, the USA 6.3 per cent and France 9.8 per cent.
During May 138 people in the island signed on and 234 signed off the unemployment register.
A total of 668 vacancies were notified to the Job Centre during the month and at the end of the month 324 positions were still vacant and held on file.
As usual, the disparity between those figures illustrates a skills gap.
There are more vacancies for people with a healthcare background than there are people with those qualifications looking for work, for example.
There are also more vacancies for skilled engineers than there are skilled engineers looking for a job.
However, there is some bright news for jobs that are arguably less skilled.
There were 212 vacancies for work in hotels, bars and in catering notified during the month, with only 89 people with those backgrounds looking for work.
Included in the statistics are people who are signing on for credits only, and so not getting benefits. In total there were 48 of them.
The island’s lowest May figure for unemployment since 1978, the earliest year for which records are available, was in 2001, when just 154 were out of work.
In 1985 there were 1,999 and in 1994 there were 1,425.