New figures show that the unemployment rate fell to 14% in the first three months of 2011, down from 14.8% in the previous three-month period.
The Central Statistics Office, in its quarterly national household survey, says that the number of people unemployed fell by 21,900 from to just under 296,000 over the three-month period.
The CSO says the fall in the unemployment rate partly reverses the big increase recorded between the third and fourth quarters of last year when the unemployment rate rose from 13.5% to 14.8%. But it says the number of people unemployed has remained relatively stable over recent quarters.
The figures also show that number of women unemployed has increased twice as quickly as the number of men over the past 12 months.
The figures show that just over 1.8 million people were at work in the first three months of the year, down 53,400 compared with the same period last year. The CSO said the 2.9% drop was the smallest since 2008.
But long-term unemployment continues to rise, up by 45% over the last 12 months. 55% of the unemployed have now been out of work for more than a year.
The biggest fall in employment over the past 12 months has been in the 25-34 age group. The construction sector continues to show the biggest fall, down almost 17% over the last year, but employment in accommodation and food services is also down almost 17%.
The number of people in the labour force has fallen by 32,000 over the past 12 months to just over two million. The CSO says 1.4 million people are now defined as not in the labour force. This figure has been increasing steadily since 2007. The number of non-Irish people in the labour force has dropped by 35,000 over the past year.
Weak but stabilising, say economists
NIB economist Dr Ronnie O'Toole said the figures did not indicate that unemployment was on a downward path, but they did indicate that the labour market was 'very close to stabilising'.
Bloxham economist Alan McQuaid said the lower jobless rate was more down to a lower labour market participation rate and increased emigration than increased job opportunities.
Goodbody economist Dermot O'Leary said the figures showed that the labour market was still weak, but there was a bright spot in the increase in employment in professional, scientific and technical activities. He said this was likely to be a reflection of the continued success of Ireland in attracting foreign investment.
