New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of people signing on the Live Register fell by 3,500 (1.2%) to stand at 278,600 in January.
This is the lowest number on the Live Register since November 2008.
The CSO also said that in unadjusted terms a total of 276,892 people were signing on the Live Register last month, down 13.9% on an annual basis.
The Live Register includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers who are entitled to jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance.
Figures earlier this week from the CSO showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January fell to 7.1% from a rate of 7.2% in December.
The jobless rate had stood at 8.5% in January of last year.
Today's figures show that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Live Register showed a monthly decrease of 2,500 men signing on in January of this year, while the number of women decreased by 1,100.
The CSO added that the number of male claimants decreased by 15.8% to 161,365 in the year to January 2017, while female claimants decreased by 11.1% to 115,527.
Meanwhile, the number of long term claimants on the Live Register last month stood at 119,263, down 18% on the same time the previous year.
The number of male long term claimants decreased by 20.7% in the year to January 2017, while females decreased by 13.1%.
