Number of unemployed people in Ireland falls to lowest level in eight years
The number of people unemployed in Ireland fell by 40,000 last year - its lowest level in eight years.
New figures from the Central Statistics Office shows unemployment dropped to 147,400 at the end of 2016.
When seasonally adjusted, the unemployment rate fell from 7.8% to 7.1% over the quarter.
According to the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) for Q4, 2016, employment totalled 2,048,100, up 3.3% or 65,100 from the same quarter in 2015.
When adjusted for seasonal factors, employment increased by 0.8% or 16,700 from
Q3, 2016.
"What we've seen in the year to Q4 2016 an increase in employment of 3.3%, or just over 65,000," said SO senior statistician Brian Ring.
"And in unemployment terms, we've seen an annual decrease in unemployment of 40,000 over the year as well."
