The number fell by 2,869 over a year, equivalent to a 14.2% drop in jobseeker numbers, according to figures published by state-run job centre Adem on Monday.

It would appear the decline is helped by job retention measures for residents, which saw a 19.1% (733 people) rise in uptake over the same period. Altogether, some 4,562 residents were enrolled in measures, that could include training, adult apprenticeships, voluntary posts or job reinsertion schemes, among others.

The proportion of non-resident jobseekers fell 15.9% (536 people) over a year, with 2,845 people seeking work.

Of the total jobseekers, just 9,570 were receiving full unemployment benefits, the report suggests.

Vacant posts

Job offers rose 73.9% over the course of a year, with 3,961 vacance posts declared at the agency in May 2021. Over three-quarters of the jobs posted were short or unlimited contracts, 12.7% were temporary roles, while one in ten were job retention measures.

The ten most-sought after profiles by employers were IT development (143), followed by audit (142), accounting 122), kitchen staff (120) and bricklaying (115). By the end of May, there were 8,865 unfilled posts.