THERE was a slight decrease in unemployment in the North last month, according to figures published by the British government yesterday.

The seasonally adjusted jobless total fell by 200 to reach 86,500. Economy minister Baroness Denton said that the decrease meant the dole queue had diminished by 1,800 over the year.

However, the total unemployment figure rose by 6, 134 last month to stand at 90,795 because of school leavers entering the jobs market.

The areas with the highest unemployment rates were Strabane, Co Tyrone, (18.6 per cent) and Newry, Co Down, (16.7 per cent). Ballymena in Co Antrim had the lowest jobless total with 8.1 per cent out of work.