There were 1,500 less people signing on the Live Register on seasonally-adjusted basis in November 2012, official figures revealed today.
This brings the total to 432,300, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in November 2012 was 14.6%, down from 14.7% in October 2012.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) was 14.8% in the third quarter of 2012.
In unadjusted terms, there were 417,277 people signing on the Live Register in November 2012, an annual decrease of 12,290 (-2.9%).
On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 1,700 males in November 2012, while females increased by 200 over the same period.
The number of male claimants decreased by 10,156 (-3.7%) to 266,370 over the year and female claimants decreased by 2,134 (-1.4%) to 150,907.
This compares with a decrease of 3,702 (-1.3%) to 276,526 for males and an increase of 8,267 (+5.7%) to 153,041 for females in the year to November 2011.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil earlier that the figures show that the Government is moving in the right direction.