Ireland’s employment rate rose to 64.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, its highest level since the crash.

However, according to the OECD’s latest employment situation report, it remains one of the lowest in the OECD, where the average is 66.9 per cent.

The report also reveals Ireland’s labour participation rate, defined as the proportion of working-age people who are either employed or unemployed, rose to 70.6 per cent. This was also below the OECD average of 71.5 per cent.

Since 2012, improvements in labour market conditions have translated into gains in Irish employment rates and, to a lesser extent, in labour-force participation rates.

In the euro area, the employment rate rose by 0.2 per cent to 65.3 per cent, the 11th consecutive quarter of growth, the report showed.

The employment rate also increased in the UK (by 0.3 per cent to 73.6 per cent), Japan (by 0.1 per cent to 74.2 per cent ) and Canada (by 0.1 per cent to 72.6 per cent), while it fell in the US (by 0.1 per cent to 69.2 per cent) and Turkey (by 0.2 per cent to 50.8 per cent).