Official figures show that the unemployment rate in the final quarter of last year was 14.6%, unchanged from the previous quarter.
The figures, from the Central Statistics Office's Quarterly National Household Survey, also show that 302,000 people were unemployed at the end of last year, up 3,000 compared with a year earlier.
The average unemployment figure for the whole of 2011 was 304,200, up 12,500 (4.3%) compared with 2010.
The number of people at work in the economy fell by 15,400 (0.8%) over the year to stand at just over 1.8m in the final quarter of last year.
The CSO said the average employment level during 2011 was 38,100 lower than in 2010, following an 80,700 drop in 2010.
The total number of people in the labour force in the fourth quarter was just over 2,109,800, down 12,400 (0.6%) over the year.
A breakdown of the figures shows that a big drop in the number of self-employed people accounted for more than 70% of the total fall in employment over the year.
The CSO said the number of self-employed people, at 285,800, is at its lowest level since 1998.
The number of women in work fell by 9,400 over the 12 months to the final quarter of 2011. The number of men at work dropped by 6,100.
Employment fell in eight of the 14 economic sectors over the year, with the biggest fall of 9,100 in the education sector.
The biggest increase was in the information and communications sector, where employment was up 5,800.
