The problem is that the claimant count is only part of the story for young people.
Labour pounced on a sharp rise in the claimant count for young people.
BBC: Welsh youngsters on long-term dole up fourfold in a year
The claimant count fell by 1, 300 from August to a total of 139, 900 in September.
Labour points to that claimant count and, in particular, the "scourge" of youth unemployment.
The claimant count in Scotland fell fell by 600 from July to 141, 900 in August.
The Northern Ireland claimant count rate, 7.1%, in February 2013 was the second highest among the 12 UK regions.
This increase in the claimant count highlights the continued pressures on the labour market in Northern Ireland in 2012.
This current claimant count rate of 7.1% is the highest since August 1998.
The benefit claimant count rose by 34, 406 people, to a new record of 4.3 million, the Labour Ministry said.
Unemployment has fallen, and the rate is far lower than either France's or Germany's, but the claimant count is misleading.
The easy bit to understand is the claimant count, as that's computerised and can be measured to the nearest individual claimant.
The unemployment claimant count in Peterhead is 2.5%, and in Fraserburgh it is 1.5%, well below the Scottish average of 3.9%.
The claimant count rate is 6.9%, well above the UK average of 5.0% and the second highest among the 12 UK regions.
The number claiming jobless benefits dropped by 33, 000 last month, taking the claimant count to 4.3% of the workforce, a 19-year low.
December is the eleventh consecutive month that the claimant count has risen.
Claimant count figures are lower than unemployment figures because they count only those people who are out of work and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.
The claimant count, based on the number of people claiming Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA), fell by 1, 400 in November to 137, 500 in December.
Though the claimant count fell slightly, employment is down - and the wider measure of joblessness rose 70, 000 in the three months to February.
However, the claimant count went up in September, leading some economists to suggest that the recent resilience of the jobs market was beginning to weaken.
But January's rise in the claimant count is a worrying portent.
Over the past year, the Northern Ireland claimant count has risen by 2, 500, an increase of 4.2% but significantly lower than the UK increase of 11.2%.
The gap in the claimant count rate between Hull and Cambridge had increased from 3.2% in February 2008 to 6.1% in November 2011, the report said.
The unemployment claimant count stormed to an 11-year-high in September.
Mr Ramsey said: Since the credit crunch officially began (August 2007), Northern Ireland's unemployment register has risen by 40, 600, or 173%, and brings the total claimant count to 64, 100.
Across most of the region, the claimant count is now back to levels last seen in 2001, but in Cornwall it is only back to the levels of 2004.
Mr Salmond emphasised further that there was "no room for complacency" within the Scottish body politic, especially in the light of the fact that Scotland's claimant count rose in August.
The figures used on the maps are not seasonally adjusted, so, for example, people taking on Christmas jobs will be reflected in a drop in the claimant count at the beginning of the year.
Over the year, the Northern Ireland claimant count has increased by 5.9% (3, 600), compared to a decrease of 4.2% in the UK. The annual increase in Northern Ireland was the highest among the UK regions.
Today's figures show the number of people in work rose by 80, 000 over the three months to April, alongside a significant fall in the broader measure of unemployment and a smaller rise in the claimant count.
So, if a person is out of work and looking for a job but not claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for any reason (for example they may not want to, or they may not be eligible to claim it), they will appear in the figure for unemployment, but not the figure for claimant count.
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