New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the seasonally adjusted Live Register total rose by just 200 in May to stand at 436,700.
Today's figures also reveal that in unadjusted terms, 432,907 people were signing on the Live Register in May, down 8,040 or 1.8% over the year.
The CSO says the standardised unemployment rate in May 2012 was 14.3%, unchanged from April.
The CSO says that the number of male claimants on the Live Register fell by 3.3% to 278,763 over the year, while female claimants rose by 1% to 154,144.
Today's figures also show that the number of long-term claimants on the dole stood at 188,729 in May.
The number of male long-term claimants rose by 4.6% in the year to May 2012, while the number of females rose by 13.7%. This gives an overall annual increase of 12,395 (7%) in the number of long-term claimants.
In the year to May, the number of people aged over 25 on the Live Register rose by 0.1% and the number of people under-25 fell by 10.3%.
The CSO pointed out that annual decreases in young people on the dole have been seen in every month since July 2010.
The percentage of people under-25 on the Live Register now stands at 16.8% in May, down from 18.4% in May 2011 and 19.4% in May 2010, the CSO added.
The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment as it includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers who are entitled to jobseek's benefit or allowance.
