The seasonally adjusted Live Register total decreased from 157,200 in January to 155,900 in February, a fall of 1,300, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office today.
The figures compare to a decrease of 800 the same time last year.
The CSO said that the unemployment rate in February was 4.2%, unchanged from January.
In the year to February 2005, the CSO said there was an unadjusted decrease of 14,478 people signing on to the Live Register, a decrease of 8.4%. This compares with an unadjusted decrease of 13,986 in the year to January 2005, a fall of 8%.
The unadjusted monthly decrease reflected decreases in all regions. The largest percentage falls were in the Border and South-West regions, which both saw falls of 2% in the number of people on the Live Register.
In relation to individual counties, the largest percentage decreases were seen in Tipperary North (down 6%) and Sligo (down 3.7%). There were increases in Waterford, Cavan, Kildare and Longford.
Commenting on today's figures Bloxham economist Alan McQuaid said the Irish labour market remains buoyant at the moment, a trend that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
He predicts that the jobless rate will edge down to 4% over the course of 2005. He said he sees growth in the construction sector decelerating from the substantial increases of recent years, while the services sector is expected to show a faster rate of growth than was the case in 2004.
