Seasonally adjusted figures show that the number of people signing on the Live Register fell by 2,000 in August to 434,400 but the number of long-term unemployed has risen.
The Central Statistics Office reports that the rate of unemployment remains at 14.7%.
The non-adjusted figure for the number of people signing on the live register fell by 13,457 or 2.9% in the month of August.
The number of people on the live register in August 2012 for more than a year was 201,513.
ISME said that the figure for long term unemployed continues to grow, now standing at 44.2% of the total, up from 40.8% a year ago and up from 24.7% in February 2010.
It described today's figures as "awful". It said this shows that the labour market remains in crisis.
The live register includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseeker's allowance. Unemployment as measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey stood at 309,000 in the first quarter of 2012.
